Reapers Redemption (SAO posting)
by Quality over Quantity
Summary: SAO/Transformers Crossover. What if Kayaba couldn't create SAO, at least, not without the help of an outside aid. An aid that was not Human. An aid that is now venturing into the virtual world. An aid that now seeks a purpose...
1. Chapter 1

Hello all.

This idea popped into my head, gestated, developed, and eventually turned into this. I know I am working on another Fanfic currently, but I wanted to post this preliminary and get some feedback, see what you, the readers, think.

I am actually writing this not having seen all of the SAO Animes, but I figured what the hell, I don't want this idea to slip away.

I wanted to try something, given the way I structured this chapter. I am not going to reveal which series it is crossing over with SAO until the end of the chapter, see if you can guess before it is revealed! If you would like to know beforehand anyway, I will post the Crossover info in my Profile, so everyone has that option.

Please let me know what you think!

Feedback and Constructive Criticism appreciated, flames ignored.

Chapter 1: Everything for…Nothing

Everything was for nothing. That was it.

His cause was finished, dead and no more.

All he had done, every compromise, every sacrifice, every horrible deed he had done…was all for nothing.

They had done so much…

They had sacrificed so much…

 _He_ had done so much…

 _He_ had sacrificed so much…

He had killed. He had tortured. He had manipulated. He had watched.

But in the end, all the SHIT he had done…all that he sold himself for…was but that a dream. An idea. And nothing more.

Basically…he had turned himself into some sort of MONSTER…the eyes and ears of a tyrant…for nothing.

Was he angry with said tyrant?

No. As much as he wanted to be, he could not bring himself to be angry at him. His Lord and Master.

Well, his Lord aside, maybe this was his form of punishment for everything he did in the name of said cause and Lord.

He was a ghost, a specter, invisible, and slowly starving, withering into less than nothing.

He could only watch, as life passed by him. Not noticing. Not caring.

Not caring. Not caring like that stupid Human, the Human that he entrusted knowledge beyond his lifetime. (And probably a few more.)

Granted, he was partially to blame himself. He had given him the information and technology as only a side project. He handed it to that Human with no idea what it would lead to.

He had sown the seeds.

He had sown the seeds, and that human CORRUPTED them!

That Kayaba Akihiko!

Wait, why the fuck should he worry about those 10,000 meatbag Humans. He himself had not cared when he aided that particular Human. Why should he care about them now?

Because…he had watched them. When you are a ghost, you have to find ways to entertain yourself.

He had observed them. He had seen them.

Die.

Fight.

Kill.

Cry.

Sacrifice.

Despair.

"…"

Smile.

Laugh.

Love.

Because they were in the same confining situation that he was in. Well, at least most of them were.

And by now they were mostly free. Rehabilitating. Getting stronger. Moving on.

But for some…

* * *

Kirito screamed from the pain from the sword that was _stabbing him through the gut_. He was completely powerless. Completely helpless as he watched Sugou violate Asuna.

Asuna was trying to be strong for him. To convince him that it was okay because it wasn't her real body.

But that vile man would not stop there. No, had promised to go to Yuuki Asuna's hospital room and rape her.

He wanted to kill him in the most painful way possible.

But he was helpless, he couldn't do anything.

He was in pain. But not as much as she was in.

"Damn you SUGOU!" he shouted in vain.

He was ready to accept reality. He…was…

* * *

Brilliant, that Kayaba Akihiko is going to fuck this up again.

But what?

What is this?

"…?"

O-outside interference?

* * *

For a moment, he thought he saw someone. Was it…Heathcliff. No wait…Kayaba?

Kirito lifted his head as best he could. And indeed it looked like Kayaba Akihiko. But something was wrong.

Kayaba was behind what appeared to be a wall of red glass, looking around in confusion and pain.

What?

* * *

That Kayaba Akihiko Human was helpless?

Someone was accessing the system, preventing him from doing whatever he was going to do.

He would consider what happened to that Kayaba Akihiko poetic justice…but he was disgusted by the scene Kayaba Akihiko was prevented from intervening.

The slimy Human was hurting the female Human, while the male Human was pinned to the ground by his sword. In pain. Both of them were in pain.

He had been watching the whole thing. And damn was he surprised how much he was REVOLTED by that slimy Human.

He was slimy, he was vile, and he was disgusting, even for a Human.

He was using his power over someone else.

The definition of evil.

That Human's actions were evil, and they were disgusting him and convincing him that he had to do something.

Well! What a lark! He, who had killed, who had tortured, who had manipulated, who had watched…was now thinking of stepping in.

Would one act of mercy, or heroism, or…whatever it was make up for all the crimes he himself had committed?

No.

Why was he even feeling this way? Why was he even FEELING for that matter? He had locked away emotions for the sake of efficiency.

Maybe it was the hunger getting to him again.

No he would not intervene.

He would not enter that world.

He would not do anything.

He would not…

He would not…

A flashback. The memory of a blast to his jaw. Of his throat…

…

He would not do nothing.

* * *

The pain was becoming too much. Kirito's body was on fire. But that was not what was the most painful, was watching this vile beast Sugou violate the woman he had come to love. And there was nothing Kirito could do about it.

"Please…stop…" Kirito practically begged.

"You'd want that wouldn't you?" snarled Sugou, as he leaned in, about to lick her breast. Asuna screamed, tears flowing down her face.

"I'll…do anything. Anything!" Kirito practically sobbed.

"Hm…? Anything?" Sugou's sick grin grew even sicker.

"Please…"

"Well,…then your next! You pissed me off kid, and I don't like being pissed off! You will pay just like HER!"

He began to reach for Asuna's skirt…

When the area was suddenly enveloped in darkness…

"What…What's this? A bug…It has to be a bug!"

Suddenly, what seemed to be the sound of soft footsteps began.

Tap…

…

Tap…

…

Tap…

"System command! Restore lighting!" Sugou barked

No response

"What?"

It was at this point Kirito noticed that the pain had stopped, albeit he was still pinned to the ground by the sword.

Tap…

…

Tap…

…

Tap…

"What! What is that noise? Who's there?" Sugou screamed.

Asuna was now feeling more terrified then violated.

"I am the GOD OF THIS WORLD! I am SUPREME! SHOW YOURSLEF!"

Tap…

…

Tap…

…

Tap…

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SYSTEM!?"

…

…

"AH! WHAT…"

The light suddenly flashed back on, more intense than before.

Asuna was still chained with her hands above her head, too terrified to even scream

Kirito was still pinned to the ground, too terrified to even scream.

Sugou had his ears covered, his eyes were wide, and he frankly should have dropped dead from fear by this point.

And a fourth figure had appeared, clad in a dark robe, holding a scythe, its face visible through the hood, gaunt and pale…

"WHO ARE YOU!"

"Irrelevant. You…Sugou Nobuyuki. In-game designation: Oberon."

"WHAT…THE HELL IS THIS!"

"Crimes: Abduction of 300 Humans, experimentation on 300 Humans,…"

"THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE!" Sugou shouted as the Reaper-being continued.

"You do not need to know."

"THAT'S IT. YOU ARE DEAD! SYSTEM COMMAND! GENERATE OBJECT! ID: EXCALIBUR!" Shouted Sugou, his eyes bulging out of their sockets, and he was barely breathing due to hyperventilating so much.

Sugou grabbed the sword that was generated, and charged the Reaper, aiming a slash to its head.

' _shlick'…_

The slash, as it turned out, had not beheaded, but rather slashed a huge gash in the side of the Reapers head, the Reaper unresponsive.

"Heh…just a bug…" Sugou began to reassure himself, "Just had to squash the bug…have to fix that later."

But the Reaper didn't fall. It turned its face toward Sugou, the large gash on the left side of the face blaring red.

"What…WHAT...!"

"What the hell…" Kirito finally managed to choke out.

Slowly, a pale hand reached up to the gash on the left side of its face. The hand dug into the gash…and pulled…

The Reaper slowly pulled at the face, the sickening sound of peeling flesh oozing into the air as the being slowly pulled its face off…as if were pulling off a mask…

Sugou had finally been scared into silent terror, as the Reaper finished pulling off its face, tossing it to the ground, where it exploded into fragments of data…

In place of the face was what appeared to be a…screen?

The faceless Reaper spoke.

"You know…you called me a bug…that's funny…really…funny. You're all a bunch of bugs to me, you sick little…flesh-slug."

Suddenly, the Reapers body began to shake, both its barely visible hands convulsing, the scythe falling to the ground and exploding into data.

Sickening sounds of what sounded like flesh and bone being rearranged squelched out…for a moment. Then it was slowly replaced with what sounded like…gears…and connectors?

The robe flung to the side, as the morphing mess of flesh began to grow…and take a different shape.

Its legs thinned and extended, its torso peeled away, its arms became extremely thin, and its screen-face grew around the front of its head.

Standing before them was a towering, dark blue being; it's thin, blade-like arms hanging to its side, with a black screen where its face should be.

A voice echoed form the being, raspy with a metallic vocoder.

" **Soundwave: Superior. Oberon: Inferior!"**

A/N So yes, this is a Sword Art Online/Transformes Prime crossover. It will take off into AU, Changing events and preventing Robots in Disguise from happening, but will still contain several of the RID Characters. Hopefully done right this time!

Thank you all for your time!


	2. Chapter 2: The Hidden Hand

"WHA…WHAT…WHAT!" screamed Sugou.

What the hell was this? This SURE AS HELL had not been programmed into the game. A GIANT BEING WITH SWORDS FOR ARMS AND A SCREEN FOR A FACE!

Soundwave suddenly spoke out again.

" **One could say you stole this world. Stole it from Kayaba Akihiko, the one who was always better than you."**

A pause.

" **But did anyone wonder how technologies like FullDive, virtual reality, NerveGear, could be created? How could it be created so rapidly and so soon? Answer: it could not be nearly as advanced as it is right now. Not even close. Not without help, help that was not of this planet. Not without me."**

Confusion etched its way into the terrified faces of all three Humans.

" **We have long been active on your planet Earth, far before your time even. We have been hiding, fighting, and watching. We have waiting for the right moment, while in plain sight. We have been observing your pathetic race as we fought each other. If you have not deduced it yet, I will verify: I am not Human, nor am I from this planet. But that is beside the point. I myself have been operating on this planet for years. During my free time, I attempted an experiment: I secretly fed that Kayaba Akihiko knowledge, information, technology, and all sorts of data that is far beyond your era; all the while I never revealed what I really was. I wanted to see what he would do with that information. He both surpassed my expectations, and corrupted them. While Kayaba Akhiko may have created this world, I gave it to him first."**

"WHAT!?" Kirito managed to splutter out.

" **Manipulating this Cardinal System is a rather interesting challenge, especially from where I am, but is still doable. I am therefore able to project an image of myself into this game, even from my location. But that is beside the point: Both you, Sugou Nobuyuki, and Kayaba Akihiko, have used the gifts I have given you to hurt people: I have grown tired of hurting people. Kayaba Akihiko would have interfered here, by the way. He would have stepped in, but something prevented him.**

"WHAT! KAYABA, DAMN YOU DAMN YOU, DAMN YOU! YOU'RE STILL IN MY WAY! YOUR SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!"

" **But that is all beside the point. I will find and deal with Kayaba Akihiko later. Right now you are here."**

Sondwaves voice suddenly stopped for a moment, and then a voice spoke out from Soundwave.

It was a recording of Sugous's.

"' _ **You pissed me off kid, and I don't like being pissed off!'"**_

"WHa…?"

" **Laserbeak: Deploy. Operation: Restraint."**

Soundwaves chest piece detached, and then transformed into a small winged drone that took to the air.

"WHAT! WAIT!" Sugou screamed as he turned and tried to run.

Laserbeak simply swooped around, with two metallic tentacles shooting out from the drone, grabbing Sugou's arms, and suspending him in the air as he screamed, his legs flailing around comically.

" **System Over Command: Set ID Oberon to Level 1. System Over Command: disable pain absorbers. You hurt many people, these children included…"**

Two more tentacles emerged from Soundwave, one of which moved to Kirito. The tentacle grabbed his sword, and pulled it out.

Kirito struggled to his feet, but was held back when one of Soundwaves sword-like arms moved in front of him, his tentacle still holding the sword.

" **But especially this girl."**

Soundwaves other tentacle reached out, grabbing the chains that were restraining Asuna. He maneuvered his free arm, and with one swift slash, destroyed the chains above where his tentacle was holding them. Soundwave then released what was left of the chains, and said chains proceeded to disintegrate, with Asuna falling to the ground as a result of the sudden disappearance. Soundwaves tentacle moved behind him, returning with the robe his reaper form had worn, and draped it over the girl, as Asuna staggered to her feet.

" **So it is fitting to say she should decide your fate."**

Soundwave dropped the sword from his tentacle in front of Asuna.

Asuna stood trembling.

"W-wait…"

Asuna raised her head slightly, looking at the man who had assaulted her, violated her; hurt her and her husband…

"Please…mercy..."

Asuna stared, looking into his eyes.

Sugous saw…

"AHHH!"

Before he could even blink, Asuna had grabbed the sword and severed his legs below the knees.

"ARRRGGGHH!"

Asuna slashed first his right arm, and then his left arm.

"AH…MMPPPGGG!"

Asuna stabbed him in the crotch…

"AH…BLA…ARRRRGGGHHH!"

…and then brought the sword up, twisted it horizontally, and severed his body at the stomach.

"Ah…ah…ah…,"

Asuna brought the blade up, aiming the tip at his whimpering face, her own face wet with tears of rage.

" **A god has his reign. But time passes. And then he fades away."**

' _Schlick'_


	3. Chapter 3: The Reaper's State

Chapter 3: The Reapers State

Once Sugou had disintegrated, the sword stuck through his right eye, there was silence. Asuna then collapsed to the ground, crying. Kirito rushed toward her and enveloped her in a hug.

"Shh…shh…It's alright…I'm here. We're together." Kirito whispered to her as she grabbed him and refused to let go. "We're together again…I won't let go…"

"Mommy! Daddy!"

The voice of a little girl caused the two to look up, just as little Yui joined in their hug.

"Yui…" Asuna managed, "you came! You both came for me…"

"Of course," Kirito smiled, "I promised I would meet up with you in the real world, and…"

The family reunion was suddenly interrupted by what sounded like a loud and raspy gasp coming from Soundwave. Laserbeak had hovered over and was nuzzling Soundwave worriedly as Soundwave fell to one knee, gasping.

" **Analysis: energon levels lower than expected. Conclusion: virtual transmission and projection more taxing than originally estimated. Slag, I thought I had more time, time to deal with that Kayaba."**

"Thank you…"

Soundwave turned his head, to see that it was Asuna who had thanked him from their embrace.

He was briefly taken aback. No one had ever thanked him. At least not in a long time. And he frankly did not know how to respond to that.

Asuna spoke again.

"Who…what are you…?"

A pause followed. Should he tell them? It would give him no time to track down Kayaba, who had vanished.

"… **I could tell you. It is not identified how you would respond, however."**

"I'm willing to listen." Asuna stated. Kirito nodded as well, as Yui was checking through the system as to what he was.

He might as well tell someone. At least he wouldn't be offlined and then completely forgotten.

" **I am Soundwave. I am Decepticon."**

Yui gasped, catching everyone's attention. She looked utterly terrified.

"I…I don't know what this is. You're not a player, or a program, or a part of the system. In fact, the system appears to have been _altered_! The only thing I can tell myself is that there are two transmissions…very strange transmissions…projecting something into the game…from somewhere…"

" **Myself and Laserbeak, if you wish to identify the transmissions origin point."**

Kirito spoke next.

"I…we would like to at least know about the…ones who saved us."

' _What the hell.'_

" **We are not from this planet. We originate from the distant planet Cybertron. We, and many more like us, have been hiding on your planet for years, following the shutdown of Cybertrons core, and its ability to produce energon, our species lifeblood and fuel source. I am familiar with a term often used to describe my kind on this planet. Term: Robot: 'a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically, especially one programmable by a computer.'"**

The two humans and little AI were utterly shocked. This was a lot to take in. But what other explanation was there?

" **A crude way to define my species, but it serves. We have been in conflict for many years. The faction I am a member of, the Decepticons have been working to achieve a new age, free from the tyranny of the original caste system of Cybertron. To do so, we were excavating energon and conducting operations on this planet. The opposing side, the Autobots, were our enemies. They operated in a similar, yet smaller fashion. In addition, they were frequently defending the Humans.** "

"Wait…" spluttered out Kirito " _Defending_ the Humans…does that mean?"

" **I will not lie. The Decepticon cause was indeed trying to conquer Earth."**

Kirito and Asuna were utterly speechless. A raspy intake from Soundwave jarred the silence.

" **I served Lord Megatron to the best of my abilities. But…"**

A pause. A very pained pause.

" **I have overheard the Autobot medic state that my leader has disbanded the Decepticons and fled into exile. It was all for nothing…"**

Soundwave made another raspy intake before continuing.

" **Every compromise…every sacrifice…every degradation…for nothing."**

Soundwave shook his head. His screen face proceeded to come to life, and it displayed images. Images of communication between…Soundwave and Kayaba?

" **In my free time, I decided to try an experiment. I sent data and information to this Akihiko Kayaba, Information vital to his VR projects. I made sure to never reveal my identity however. As I told Sugou, he wouldn't have made that much progress without my…assistance."**

"So…if what you said is true…" murmured Kirito.

"I don't believe it…" Asuna trailed off.

" **He has surpassed my initial expectations significantly."**

He stopped suddenly as Laserbeak seemed to fizzle out of existence.

" **Laserbeak energon levels low. Transmission of Laserbeak has ceased."**

"What…?"

" **I have not re-energized. I am trapped in an interdimensional rift and am unable to interact physically with the world anymore. I am only able to interact with this game through a transmission. My energon levels are at a critical low. Essentially, I am dying of starvation. These Humans are responsible for trapping me here."**

An image flashed on his screen of three children.

No one noticed Kirito gasp in shock.

Another rasp.

" **My time grows short. Soon, I will not be able to continue this transmission. I will not attempt to beg for forgiveness, nor will I say I was in the right. But at least I have managed to inform someone of my existence."**

"Wait…" Asuna finally managed to ask, "Why did you help us?"

" **Unknown."**

"Huh…?"

" **Energon levels critical. Ceasing transmission."**

And like that, their mysterious savior vanished in an explosion of data.

* * *

Suguha Kirigaya let out a deep breath as her brother awoke in the real world.

"Kazuto…You're safe!"

"Yes," Kazuto stated, "Sugu, I need to go to Asuna."

"Then go," His sister said simply, with a soft smile.

"But I need you to make a call…"

* * *

Soundwave had collapsed and was now lying on his back. Laserbeak had re-docked with him, and he was making sure the drone would survive as long as he had energon. Which probably would not be for much longer.

' _ **Energon at critical low….'**_

Why did he save those Humans anyway?

Was it him taking pity?

Was it him seeking redemption?

Was it him just doing it because he could?

Well, it did not matter anymore. He would starve soon. He'd just take that question to his grave.

Way better than having some stupid mushy moment anyway.

His vision began to fade…

Wait…

What was that?

A green light?

But this would ultimately go unanswered, as at that moment he powered down and lost consciousness.

* * *

In a mysterious dark void, a voice rang out.

"Noizemaze, are you ready to proceed?"

"Affirmative. I shall depart shortly."

"Good. I have no doubts you will come through."

"Thank you, Commander Sideways."


	4. Chapter 4: In Real Life

Chapter 4: In Real Life

A few days had passed. Kazuto's rush to the hospital had turned into a battle with Sugou, but Kazuto was able to defeat him, playing on the eye injuries Asuna had inflicted on Sugou.

Asuna had a tearful reunion with her family, and Sugou was arrested and was currently being interrogated.

But they did not get an answer about the mysterious alien. At least not yet…

Kazuto was sitting with Asuna in her hospital room, the two of them simply enjoying the other's company.

Suddenly, a loud knock interrupted them, causing the two teens to jump slightly in shock.

"…come in." Asuna finally said.

They were rather stunned at who entered.

Several men in black suits who did not appear to be Japanese stepped into the room. One of them stepped toward them and managed to speak in Japanese.

"Kazuto Kirigaya…" he stated eyeing the black-clad teen, "Sword Art Online and ALfheim Online gamer ID Kirito?"

"You know me?" Kazuto asked.

The man continued. "Asuna Yuuki, Sword Art Online and Alfheim Online gamer ID Asuna?"

Kazuto moved in front of Asuna protectively, but Asuna pushed him weakly aside and nodded.

"My name is Special Agent James Charon. I represent the United States Military, and I'm afraid I need you to come with us. Both of you."

"Wait," Kazuto shot back, "What is going on? Asuna is in no state to leave the hospital, this is Japan, not the United States, and no one has told me anything about what is the meaning of all this!"

"We have already spoken to the hospital staff and her doctor. They have given the OK for Asuna to leave for a short time, and it will be shorter than you would think. This is a matter of planetary security."

"Load of crap!" Kazuto retorted, but he then noticed something. "Wait…you said PLANETARY security…?

Agent Charon interrupted. "It's about the being you encountered. Soundwave."

Both teens immediately froze.

"Your sister, Suguha Kirigaya, is with us as well. We have a lot we need to talk about. Rest assured we have contacted officials in Japan to notify them of this arrangement. You have my word you will not be harmed."

Kazuto and Asuna were still quite suspicious.

Agent Charon softened his tone, "We really need to talk to you immediately. You will be with friends. Please."

"Kirito…" Asuna finally whispered, "It's alright."

"But…"

"I need to know."

Kazuto paused, but then nodded, and got up to help her into a wheelchair.

* * *

The men in suits escorted the two teens, with Kazuto pushing Asuna in a wheelchair, outside of the hospital, and into the street. They were led into a white-and-orange ambulance parked outside. Suguha was there waiting, with another familiar face.

"Miko!"

Nadakai Miko stood leaning up against the ambulance, a smirk on her face. She was wearing black slacks, a white sweater, and a black jacket. Clearly all business.

"Good to see you, Kazuto. I hear you were involved in SAO. You look like shit."

That did it. "REALLY!? Where have you been these past few months? The exchange term has ended!"

Suguha stepped in between them before an argument could ensue. "Miko's glad to see you too, Kazuto. I managed to get in contact with her like you asked."

"Wait…" Asuna interjected weakly, "You know her?"

Kazuto sighed. "Sugu and Miko are good friends. I recognized her from the…picture, and asked Sugu to get in contact with Miko. Get us some information."

Miko nodded and pushed herself off the side of the ambulance, straightening up.

"I'm afraid that means you have gotten involved too now. All three of you. And that's AGENT Miko to you!"

Words spoken in English came out of the back of the ambulance, coming from a woman in a nurse's outfit.

"Sorry, Mrs. Darby. CONSULTANT Miko Nadakai."

"You work for the US Government now?!"

"Not sure. But we need to get moving."

"Where are you taking us, Miko?"

"I'll tell you when we are inside Sugu, but you probably won't believe me."

There was a pause, but eventually, Kazuto and Suguha began helping Asuna into the back of the ambulance.

* * *

The ambulance drove down the city streets, followed closely by a black SUV and, strangely, a black-and-yellow muscle car.

"How much do you know," Miko asked. She and Agent Charon were seated facing the back of the vehicle with Kazuto, Asuna and Suguha facing the front. The American nurse tended to Asuna.

"Pretty much nothing," Suguha noted, "Kazuto just woke up and asked me to contact you."

Miko turned to Asuna. Asuna hesitated, but Kazuto squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Nobuyuki Sugou had abducted 300 of the Sword Art Online players by hacking into the SAO servers. He had been conducting experiments on the human brain, in an attempt at, among other things, mind control. I…was one of those players."

There was a pained pause.

"Kirito…Kazuto had broken into the in-game facility to rescue us. Sugou's admin privileges proved too powerful…we were helpless."

She had specifically left out the part where Sugou had violated her. She wasn't ready yet.

"Suddenly…the lights went out, and then this…player with a scythe in a reaper robe appeared, able to override the system commands. Sugou attacked him, but he…transformed…into this giant metal being with a screen for a face…"

For a moment, Asuna thought she heard a 'Hmm' resonate around them.

"He…freed me and Kirito and easily defeated Sugou. He proceeded to tell us about himself. He had apparently been a member of something called the…what was it…the Decepticon cause…that had been attempting to…conquer Earth."

No one responded, so Asuna continued.

"He…had said that he had supplied information to Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of SAO…claimed Kayaba would not have made as much progress without…Soundwave's aid but was never aware of what Soundwave truly was. Soundwave had said it had been a…side project…and that Kayaba both…surpassed…and corrupted his expectations…why are we driving into an abandoned part of the city?"

That caught Kazuto and Suguha's attention, looking out the back windows of the ambulance, indeed the three vehicles were driving into an old, abandoned part of the city.

"No one can see us." Miko replied.

"Wha…?"

There was suddenly a bright flash of green light, followed by a nauseating sensation, where Kazuto nearly puked. What utterly shocked the three was that there appeared to be sunlight coming out of windows now.

"Don't be alarmed." Miko stated, you will be treated well, and you will be returned to Japan after we have interviewed you. We have just Groundbridged from Japan over into the United States"

Seeing the three's confused stares, she decided to explain.

"It's sort of like teleporting. We have been warped to North America."

"WHAT!?"

Miko sighed.

"I'm going to have to tell you a lot of information. Like I said earlier it maybe hard to believe, if not impossible."

The ambulance proceeded to stop, and the back doors were opened, with men in army uniforms coming to assist the nurse with bringing down Asuna's wheelchair. Upon exiting, it was clear that they were standing in some kind of…massive warehouse.

It was then they received yet another shock of their lives in the past few days.

The black-and-yellow muscle car proceeded to suddenly began shifting and reshaping with sounds of gears and mechanics. In but a few seconds, the black-and-yellow muscle car had transformed into a towering black-and-yellow…robot?

Asuna and Kazuto had been scared into silence, but they had seen something similar in-game. Suguha had not.

"WHA…WHA…WHA…?"

"BUMBLEBEE!" Miko suddenly shouted at the mechanical being, "You just transform out of the blue? These people have been through a traumatic experience in the past few days already!"

"Sorry Miko," the robot now identified as Bumblebee stated, "I'm just a little on edge. I want to be as alert as possible, given that we have HIM here…"

The nurse had shouted something at Bumblebee in English, and Bumblebee looked apologetic.

"Oh, I'm sorry you three. I kind of jumped the gun. A little on edge given the prisoners we have in the next building."

An awkward pause.

"How…how do you speak Japanese…?" Suguha finally managed to get out lamely.

"Oh! An algorithm we Cybertronians can use. I have updated it using information from the internet. Basically, it allows me to speak both Japanese and English at the same time."

"…Ok…" was all Suguha managed, barely noticing the ambulance and black car moving off toward the warehouse entrance.

"Introductions!" Miko interjected before anything else could freak them out. "'Bee these are Suguha Kirigaya, her brother Kazuto Kirigaya, and Asuna Yuuki. Huh. I've been here too long. I don't even know where to put a last surname anymore…"

"Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you! I'm Bumblebee! And that is…huh…he drove off."

"So…it's true…" Asuna breathed out.

"What?"

"There were aliens…robot aliens…,"

Bumblebee sobered up suddenly. "Yeah. I would be back on Cybertron, but when we received word that Soundwave was still active in the Shadowzone, Ratchet requested several of us come back and help guard him."

"Captured?"

"Yeah. He was running low on energon, so we were able to restrain him easily."

"Wait...," Asuna replied, "RESTRAIN?"

"Yes…" Bumblebee said slowly and softly, "He's dangerous. He is a member of a faction that was trying to take over your planet."

"The Decepticons…" Asuna trailed off. Bumblebee looked surprised, until Miko cut in.

"They know…somewhat."

"Can we see him?"

Bumblebee was taken aback.

"What?"

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" a voice interjected loudly, causing everyone present to jump. A white-and-orange robot who heavily resembled the ambulance they rode in stormed into the warehouse.

"There is NO way we will allow them to see this dangerous Decepticon! Given the last time we had him, I'm not even sure he is restrained enough! He could break free and…"

"RATCHET!" Bumblebee exclaimed, "Easy! These kids have been through a lot!"

"I need to know..." Asuna suddenly spoke up again. "He saved us. He saved me."

Ratchet snorted. "I doubt it. He probably intervened for some ulterior motive, or did something to your…"

"He _DIDN'T!"_ Asuna panted out, in as best a voice as she could muster, given her current state, "He SAVED us! Without him…I would…I would…"

"Please," Kazuto spoke up, "He saved BOTH of us. Let us see him."

Ratchet paused for a long moment. He then turned to the silent Agent Charon, who nodded and pulled out a cell phone, dialing a number. Ratchet turned back to the group.

"If he so much as TWITCHES, this visit is over!"

And with that, Ratchet turned and headed toward the door of the warehouse. Bumblebee turned to the group and nodded, and the large robot led the group of Humans toward the large doors of the warehouse.

Upon exiting the warehouse, they found themselves in what appeared to be an Air Force base in the middle of a desert. As Bumblebee led the group to a large hangar, Suguha whispered to Miko.

"That grumpy one…was HE the ambulance we rode in on?"

"Yeah…" Miko responded "We were going to break the whole transforming thing to you slowly, but 'Bee up and ruined that."

"You have to excuse Ratchet," Bumblebee spoke up to the group, causing the whispering girls to jump. "He…we all have just recently witnessed our leader…our mentor... sacrifice himself for the good of our species…"

Bumblebee closed his optics. It was clearly hard for him to talk about it too. Before more could be said, the group found themselves outside of a massive air hangar. The huge hangar doors began to open, and Bumblebee addressed them again.

"This may be rather shocking."

Once the hangar doors opened, and the group was let inside, Suguha and Kazuto were stunned speechless, While Asuna let out an audible gasp.

Restrained to a massive table that was tilted vertically, with blue cuff-like devices surrounding his wrists and ankles, was Soundwave, silent and unmoving. The table was suspended near the far wall, and there were several other large robots in the hangar as well, including Ratchet. A metallic tube was attached to one of his arms, with a blue substance flowing through it into one of his arms. The drone Laserbeak was chained to the floor in the corner, connected to a similar apparatus. But the most shocking of all were the weapons and turrets several Human guards had aimed at the massive, silent being.

"We've had him for a few days now." Bumblebee continued with a sigh, "After you tipped us off that he was in the Shadowzone, we formed a guard squad of both Humans and Cybertronians and carried him out. Given what happened last time he was captured here, they are very cautious, and are hesitant to give him any energon. He's hooked up and he's running on minimal power." "Bee closed his optics again, "This isn't right, at least not to me. But given all that's happened, both the Autobots and the US Government are not sure what to do with him."

"All right! Visiting hours are over!" Ratchet interrupted gruffly as he walked over, "You have seen enough, and we have a lot to talk about! There is great deal we need to tell you, and some things we need you to tell us. This way, please."

Ratchet began to herd the Humans toward the door to the hangar, when everything seemed to stop cold. Everyone, even the guards and Autobots, froze.

Soundwave spoke for the first time since his capture from the Shadowzone, a sound wave line appearing on his visor as he spoke.

" **Why have you come?"**

 **AN:** There is Chapter 4. Pleas R and R! if there is anything you need clarified, let me know.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: A Great Deal of Information

To say that a lot of information had been divulged in a short amount of time would be an understatement.

After Soundwave had uttered his line to the Humans, the soldiers and Autobots in the warehouse took ready positions at the weapons, and Ratchet quickly ushered them out. They were led to a building clearly designed for Humans and brought into a secure room. Special Agent William Fowler, one of the personnel in charge of this "Unit E" proceeded to take a great deal of time to give a long and complex explanation about what had secretly been occurring on Earth, with Miko translating.

About the Autobots.

About the Decepticons.

About the secret war between them.

How they came to this situation in the first place.

The Decepticon Leader Megatron, who had commanded an army from his warship _Nemesis_ , had prepared a last stand to transform Earth. The Autobots had launched an attack to stop this, during which Megatron was finally vanquished. Following this, and the restoration of their home planet Cybertron, the Autobots had withdrawn from Earth to rebuild their home.

Megatron had apparently been revived and possessed by some means (The explanation of who and what Unicron was would be too complex for now), and pursued them to Cybertron, where he fought the Autobots again. Eventually, Unicron was defeated, and Megatron regained control of his body. In a move that had shocked everyone when they heard about it, Megatron had realized the error of his ways, disbanded the Decepticons, and left into exile.

From what the Humans had deduced, Soundwave, who had been trapped in an inter-dimensional rift called the Shadowzone during the battle, had witnessed Megatron's death on the _Nemesis._ He had followed Megatron's body back to Earth and wound up trapped there when the possessed Megatron left Earth. From what Ratchet had suspected, Soundwave probably flew to the base they were currently in and waited for an opportunity to escape the Shadowzone.

Ratchet distinctly remembered mentioning What had transpired on Cybertron, and Soundwave most likely heard this. Granted, Ratchet himself did not believe what had been told to him about Megatron's choice, but he did mention it to the Humans.

To say this was a lot to take in would be a frickin' understatement.

The three Japanese kids were now sitting in a conference room in the base with Agent Fowler and Miko, taking this all in. It was a few moments before anyone said anything, and it was Suguha who finally broke the silence.

"Wow…just…wow,"

"So…" Asuna began, "What's going to happen now."

Agent Fowler grimaced.

"I am not sure…"

Miko translated, and the subsequent reply of "Why's that?" from Asuna.

"If what you have told us is true, then it appears Soundwave has been accessing the Internet and communicating with Humanity at some points. This, in itself, is very disturbing news. The fact that he contributed technology and information to others, and what this information led to is a whole new level of disturbing."

A pause.

"We need to know what else he was doing and what else he gave away. Soundwave was a member of a faction that was trying to conquer our planet; I'm not exactly confident that this was for a good purpose."

Another pause. Followed by a sigh.

"Frankly we would like to interrogate him, ask him what was going on. But, the fact that he won't speak to anyone aside, some of my superiors are nervous about having him around. The Autobots had captured him, and we had him restrained here before, and even with Autobots here, he STILL managed to escape…I was there. Hence why we asked several of the Autobots to return from Cybertron and help us guard him. Nonetheless, the Autobots themselves do not currently have the means to keep him imprisoned, even on Cybertron."

"I've just had an idea!" Miko burst out, startling everyone. Miko is still Miko. Whatever the role.

Miko wasted no time in explaining the idea to both parties.

"Let Suguha, Kazuto, and Asuna talk to him! They were the only ones that managed to get a response from him!"

"Are you serious!?" Fowler spluttered when he heard her.

"We live on the other side of the world." Kazuto added when he heard.

"That's what Ground Bridges are for!"

"He's a Decepticon and he's dangerous!" Fowler chimed in.

"We have him well restrained, and low on energon!"

"Asuna has just woken up after not using her body for TWO YEARS!" Suguha burst out, despite not yet being that close to Asuna. "And Kazuto is still recovering from the same ordeal! Would you really drag them through this after all of the trauma they have experienced!"

Miko's face fell. She didn't have an answer for that. "Sorry."

"Maybe…it would work!"

Everyone turned to Asuna, who had spoken up.

"Soundwave saved us. He was angry with Kayaba for causing the SAO incident. He said that he had lost the cause that he worked so hard to achieve. He seemed…sad."

"Soundwave? Sad? That I CAN'T believe," Miko muttered, but she translated anyway.

"Miss Yuuki," Fowler stated, "You're very weak, you need to go through physical therapy, you can't even walk. Given how dangerous Soundwave can be, I am not sure anyone would be willing to take that risk."

"I'm willing!" Asuna stated as loudly as she could, "With this Ground Bridge technology you told us about, we could come here just about any day! We could remain in Japan, go through therapy, and visit at night, and be back in a few hours! Given what he saved us…saved me from…I'm willing to take that risk!"

Agent Fowler paused. That sounded like a logical plan. A sigh followed.

"I'll have to run it by with my superiors and the Autobots. I'm not sure what either of their answers will be."

Asuna brightened up, and she smiled slightly.

"I believe he deserves a chance."

* * *

"HE DOES NOT DESERVE THAT CHANCE!" Ratchet shouted when he heard the news.

Fowler lowered his hands from his ears. Asuna watched the whole thing from her nearby wheelchair, with Bumblebee kneeling over her.

"It's the best we've got to work with right now! Ms. Yuuki was adamant, and even VOLUNTEERED! DESPITE HER CONDITION!"

"Puh-lease!" Ratchet shot back, "He was able to escape before! You should know: you were there!"

"I KNOW! DAMN IT I know!" Fowler replied, "But we don't know what he has done through the Internet! It's not like we have the means to keep him imprisoned long-term! What do you suggest, we just KILL him!?"

Asuna's eyes widened.

"That seems like the BEST option, in my opinion!" Ratchet growled. Asuna's eyes widened at this.

"RATCHET!" Bumblebee spoke up suddenly, "That's barbaric! It's just what the Decepticons would have done!"

"Hence why they should get a taste of their own cruelty!"

"Ratchet…," Bumblebees tone softened considerably, "It's not what Optimus would have done."

Ratchet growled, and his teeth clenched. He turned and walked toward the hangar, leaving the three of them in the warehouse.

Fowler sighed.

"He seems even more on edge than usual." He addressed Asuna before moving off.

"I'm sorry." Bumblebee apologized to Asuna, "But he is going through a lot right now. We all are."

"May I ask why?" Asuna inquired slowly.

Bumblebees optics switched off, appearing as if he was closing his eyes solemnly.

"On Cybertron," Bumblebee started, "After Megatron had disbanded the Decepticons and flew into exile…our leader Optimus Prime…he…had to give up his life…to ensure that our species would survive."

Asuna's eyes widened; she was visibly stunned.

"He was Ratchets old friend." Bumblebee continued, "and a great mentor and leader to all of us…to me…"

"I'm sorry…" Asuna said softly. With difficulty, she reached her hand out and touched Bumblebee's leg in sympathy.

Bumblebee's optics turned back on.

"Thanks," Bumblebee replied, "We are all very upset. But I suspect Ratchet especially. He knew Optimus long before the rest of us did. This must be very hard on him."

Bumblebee sighed sadly. He was prevented from saying, when Charon returned with Miko, Suguha, and Kazuto.

"It's time we brought you back to Japan," Agent Charon informed them, "You have, no doubt, been through a lot. Agent Fowler and myself will run your suggestion by our superiors, though I am not sure what they will say. Let's just hope for the best."

Suguha spoke up. "Could…we see him again before we leave?"

* * *

"Hey there." Asuna stated from her wheelchair, which had been wheeled into the hangar, in front of the Decepticon. The Human guards were still present, along with the Autobots, with the additional two now known as Arcee and Wheeljack.

Soundwave remained confined to the table, silent and unmoving.

"I'm not sure if they will allow it. But maybe I will be able to come visit you for a while."

Wheeljack and Arcee looked at each other in shock. Asuna continued.

"I am grateful for what you did. I want to get to know you. I feel I at least owe you that."

No response.

"To be honest," Asuna began carefully, "I discovered a few months ago in Sword Art Online that the Commander of my guild, Heathcliff, was actually the mastermind behind the whole death game. I'm very shaken, so I suppose I know what it feels like, at least a little."

Still no response.

"I have to go," Asuna finally conceded, "But I hope to meet you in the future."

"Don't worry," Arcee voiced up from, causing Asuna to jump a little, "Don't take it personally. Soundwave was known for NEVER speaking. When he spoke to you, that was the longest sentence I had ever heard from his own voice."

Asuna was stunned. But she did not voice it, as Charon entered the hangar.

Charon shook his head. "That's enough. It's time to go."

Asuna nodded, and the two proceeded to move toward the doors to the hangar, where Ratchet had transformed and was waiting for them.

* * *

Kazuto was exhausted by the time he returned to his room back in Japan. It had been a rather…eventful past few days, to say the least.

He was unsure of what the future may hold.

As he was sitting down on his bed, he was suddenly startled into a jump when his compute alerted him that he had a new email.

Raising an eyebrow, Kazuto stood up off the bed and proceeded to open up his email folder.

His eyes instantly widened at who it was sent from.

Heathcliff.

' _Kayaba!'_

But why would Kayaba want to contact him? Kazuto was stunned at first, before he remembered what had happened during the confrontation between Sugou and Soundwave. Kayaba had appeared there, appearing as if he was trying to speak to him. But he was restrained by something, held back. And he looked almost…scared.

With shaking hands, Kazuto opened the email.

 _Kirito_

 _I was awakened from dormancy during your encounter with Oberon, and I am glad that you and Asuna have emerged safely. To be honest, I was intending to step in, tell you to remember the power of the human will, the power you showed me. I intended to give you the administrator ID and password for the Heathcliff account that I used, which had a higher administrative rank than Sugou's._

 _But something held me back, restrained me. Something I have completely no idea of what it is. What I could feel from it, was that it was an intelligence. A powerful intelligence. An evil intelligence._

 _I am as utterly shocked and astounded by what has been revealed. And I am going to say that there is truth to what that alien said regarding the information: While I indeed am responsible for the development of Sword Art Online, I did receive help from a source who was always very mysterious, and virtually transparent. An unknown. Without this unknown being, I would not have made many of the breakthroughs that I had, and it may have taken many more years for Sword Art Online to be released, if ever. But to discover that this unknown source was an alien, and an alien that has been active on Earth for years…it is truly beyond human comprehension. I believe him that he was the one who sent me that information. Because while I could operate the system almost as a god as Sugou thought, that alien can manipulate the system as if it were a being simply moving its hand._

 _What's more, there might be more of them. Both the alien 'Soundwave' and the intelligence that interfered and held me back were different from each other. I could tell._

 _And that scared me._

 _I must investigate this. There are many questions that have been presented by this shocking revelation of events. I am grateful to the being, however, for getting you both out of the situation, and ultimately letting Ausna choose what to do. Now I am going to let you decide what will happen next._

 _I have enclosed a program I was intending to give to you, named the World Seed. I am entrusting this to you, and you may do with it what you wish. You can even delete it if you wish, but I will let you make that decision. I leave the future in your hands._

 _I leave it up to you._

* * *

"Commander, they have agreed.

"You have done well Noizemaze. I had no doubts."

"Thank you, Commander. The tactician shall prove very useful to our Dominion."

"Warwing shall. Now I must ask you about something."

"What do you wish to know?"

"You informed me of a Human. A Human who was a major part of the Humans Virtual Reality technology. That you had gained information by analyzing some sort of…ghost."

"Correct."

"I want you to find this ghost, monitor him. I believe he can create the final piece we need."


	6. Chapter 6: Past Pain

Chapter 6: Painful Pasts

Months had passed.

Agent Fowler had managed to get the authorization for the plan. Kazuto, Suguha and Asuna remained in Japan, with Asuna working on her physical and psychological therapy, gradually regaining mobility. Every few days Miko would bring Asuna, and sometimes Kazuto and/or Suguha through the GroundBridge for a few hours, and spend time talking…at Soundwave. At least at first, as eventually he began to speak as well, albeit mostly notifications, affirmatives, negatives, and status. Very rarely did he make a full sentence.

In addition to Soundwave, the three and Miko worked with Ratchet into adapting the Cybertronian translation algorithm for use by Humans, as translating was a lot to pin on Miko. They also spent time getting to know the other Autobots; Bumblebee, Wheeljack and Arcee, in addition to the additional Human consultants Jack Darby, Rafael Esquaviel, and Jacks mother, June Darby. It took time, as again Miko had to translate, but both groups were eager to hear about the other: The consultants about SAO, and SAO survivors about the adventures with the Autobots. Both sides were stunned at the adventures and experiences the other had had.

Poor Suguha felt a little left out, as she did not have as much to tell.

The VR industry in Japan had also been changing. Fortunately, the 300 players that had been experimented on by Sugou had awoken no memory of the experiences, and no visible neurological troubles, so they were in the process of rehabilitation as well. RECT, the company that had taken over the SAO servers through which Sugou was able to enact his plans, had suffered a huge loss, with the branch that managed ALfheim Online shutting down, and the company's CEO, Asuna's father Yuuki Shouzo, had resigned.

Things had looked bleak for the VRMMO industry in the wake of all this, but the introduction of the mysterious World Seed had brought about a resurgence to said industry. Placed online for free, the World Seed was a modified basic of the Cardinal system used in the creation of SAO. This gave an ability to anyone who had the access to a good enough server could download the Seed, allowing for companies and even people and create their own virtual worlds. This had, essentially, revived the VRMMO industry. Even ALfheim Online was able to stay operational, as a new company called Ymir had emerged that was founded by ALfheim Online players. It had acquired the ALO data from RECT and had both reestablished and upgraded ALO.

It seemed ALfheim Online was here to stay.

But the question that remained: where did this World Seed come from?

* * *

"…he's been at home a lot recently. I hope he finds a hobby or something." Asuna had stated out loud, describing her father. She was currently sitting on a fold out chair, leaning on a fold out table in the hangar, Kazuto sat in another chair at the table, reading a magazine and occasionally looking up to observe his girlfriend talking to the alien robot. Wheeljack was nearby, lying against a wall, with the Human guards still present in their positions.

Soundwave didn't respond to that.

Asuna smiled softly. "I've been doing better at physical therapy, according to the doctor. I'm able to walk without my crutches now."

" **Agreeable."**

Asuna raised an eyebrow. No matter how many times they got Soundwave to speak, it still caused her slight surprise every time he did speak.

"Thanks," Asuna paused, "you know, my dad is kind of in the situation you are in, actually…"

Another pause.

" **Elaborate."**

"Well…He has lost his job, a job he spent years working to build up and perform to the best of his ability…" Asuna's tone softened, "He has now lost that job, and all he has worked to create. It's almost like he has lost his purpose…"

"…"

"But…" Asuna continued, lightening her tone, "He's still got life in him. And I want him to find something new, like a hobby I mentioned. I really want him to find a new purpose."

The sound of Ratchet walking up to his computer, speaking with Suguha about the translation algorithm distracted Asuna, who turned toward the commotion. It looked as if the two of them had been talking rather heatedly.

"Look, you might want to consider taking into account you are trying to push two different languages into one!" Suguha exclaimed.

"Are you implying I don't know what I am doing?" Ratchet snapped back, "I have been working with this algorithm for longer than you have been alive."

"I didn't mean that!"

"Then but out and let me work!"

"You know what?" Kazuto suddenly burst out, surprising everyone as he slammed the magazine he was reading on to the table, "What's your problem?! Suguha was just trying to help, and you go and bite her head off!"

"And what would you know about this kind of technology?"

"Nothing. But I know you're being a real jerk."

There was a long and tense silence as the two of them stared each other down. Ratchet finally closed his optics and sighed.

"I'm sorry…" Ratchet stated, "I shouldn't have snapped like that. But the past few months have been extremely…difficult. I…really feel lost without Optimus. I've known him for so long, and he has always been there for me. Now that he's gone…"

Ratchet paused. Then choked out the next words.

"I wasn't there during the battle…I was taking care of Ultra Magnus…I had worked so hard to restore Cybertron…yet tobe helpless while our planets future was on the line…and now because of that battle, Optimus is…Optimus is…"

Ratchet buried his face in his hands, unable to finish. Everyone was silent for a moment.

"I know how you feel." Kazuto finally spoke up in a quiet voice.

Ratchet looked up.

"Back in SAO, I had joined up with a guild. The Moonlit Black Cats. I was being ostracized as a 'beater,' and it felt good to be in a guild with friends. I didn't want to ruin that, so I lied and said that my in-game skill level was around their levels, while it was actually much higher. I was a member for the next couple months, and…it was great."

Kazuto paused, clearly beginning to fight back emotions at this point.

"We had finally gotten enough money to get a home. Our leader, Keita went into the Town of Beginnings to buy one. Everyone wanted to get money for a celebration, so we went into a Labyrinth. A trap was triggered, and we were unable to escape."

Kazuto was fighting back tears at this point.

"They all died. Tetsuo, Sasamaru, Ducker…Sachi. We were swarmed, and I couldn't save them. They all died before my eyes. When I…got out…alive, I told Keita: he committed suicide."

Kazuto took in a deep breath, the tears still flowing.

"They were my friends. They were my friends, and I lied to them. If I had told them about my actual level…If I had insisted, we not go into that Labyrinth…maybe…maybe…then maybe they would still be alive!"

' _crash'_

What sounded like glass cracking startled everyone in the room. Wheeljack jumped up and pulled out his two swords. The soldiers had manned their weapons and aimed at Soundwave. Ratchet stepped in front of the children. Everyone's eyes and optics were wide at this point.

Soundwave's visor had fallen off.

For the first time, Humans and Autobots could see Soundwave's face.

Soundwaves optics were red, shaped like a pair of sunglasses, and his mouth was covered with a metal plate-like mask. His intakes were rasping again, and he was shaking. Out of the corner of his optics, there appeared to be…tear-like lubricants.

Soundwave was holding back sobs. And the whole hangar was silent.

" **Analysis: energon levels low. Effect: emotional suppressant systems functioning at low efficiency. Why SLAG IT WHY!"**

Soundwave turned his head toward Ratchet.

" **Ratchet…Optimus Primes death: not your fault."**

Soundwave turned from a stunned Ratchet to Kazuto.

" **Kirigaya Kazuto…Moonlit Black Cats deaths: not your fault."**

Soundwaves optics flashed grey, indicating he had 'closed his eyes' in Human terms.

" **My squad…my squad…dead…utterly destroyed…AND IT'S ALL MY FAULT!"**

Lubricants were streaming down his face now.

" **Rumble…Frenzy…Ravage…Buzzsaw…"**

All that could be heard was Soundwave, choking back raspy sobs.

"What happened."

To everyone's surprise, it was Wheeljack who had spoken up.

Soundwave looked up at Wheeljack, his red optics furrowing, as if he was scowling, for a moment. But they soon softened. And Soundwave began.

" **During the time after the Exodus from Cybertron, I was in command of a squad. It consisted of Rumble, Frenzy, Buzzsaw, and the Mini-Cons Ravage and Laserbeak. For stellarcycles, we had fought on many battlefields and completed many missions together. We were a great team, the best brothers-in-arms."  
**

" **On one mission, we were assigned a scouting mission for energon deposits in an asteroid field. We had completed our sweeps and were returning to base. On our return journey, we encountered an Autobot listening post we had missed during our original sweeps."**

" **I eventually gave in to my troops request for a little 'fun' and we attacked the listening post, intent on destroying it…"**

" **Halfway through our attack, Decepticon artillery fire suddenly struck. I had been unaware that an artillery strike had been planned to take out the listening post, allowing us free reign to begin mining operations in the field without fear of detection."**

" **They were killed. My squad was killed: Rumble, Frenzy, Buzzsaw and Ravage were all destroyed. Only myself and Laserbeak, who was badly damaged, managed to survive and return to the Decepticon lines…"**

Everyone was beyond stunned.

" **I was in command: The squad was my responsibility. Because I gave in to indulgence, they were wiped out…If I had been a better leader…If I had bothered to check for artillery strikes…all my fault. Their…destruction…was the result of my foolish indulgence: Therefore, emotions were the cause. I had to work to suppress and purge my emotions: Focus on the cause, and only follow orders, nothing more."**

It was as if the world had stopped rotating; everyone was stunned. Ratchet just stared at Soundwave, looking like he was unable to comprehend what he had just heard. Wheeljack's optics were wider then they had ever been. Suguha and even Kazuto were crying.

"You cared."

Everyone turned to see it was Asuna, with her bangs covering her eyes.

"You cared. You cared so much for your squad, and it crushed you when they were destroyed. You focused on the Decepticon cause because you didn't want feel the pain of losing them: they meant that much to you."

Asuna lifted her head, showing that her eyes were burning with passion.

"Well, I'll give you a new cause. I'll be there for you, even if not officially."

She stood.

"I, Yuuki Asuna, pledge myself to Soundwave's squad."

AN: I have always loved how despite Soundwave's cold and calculating nature, he has had so much care, bordering on parental love, to his cassettes. So, when musing how much I miss the other cassette minions in _Prime_ , I had this idea: What if he used to have the squad, like in the _War for Cybertron_ and _Fall of Cybertron_ games, but something happened to them, and this utterly _destroyed_ Soundwave. And caused him to purge his emotions and cease to speak. (Except 2 lines when he was captured by the Autobots)

And to clarify, in this fanfic Rumble, Frenzy and Buzzsaw are not Mini-Con cassettes; There is a reason for this.

Please let me know what you think!

Update 7/25

I performed some much needed maintenance on all chapters. I finally added scene lines, and added a vocal quirk to a certain character. Here's a challenge: See if you can find out who it is and what is the quirk!

Be back soon with more!


	7. Chapter 7: The Gears Start to Turn

Chapter 7: The Gears Start to Turn

 _The roar of the crowds was massive, almost shaking Cybertron to its core._

 _The gladiator pits were filled with spectators. A truly massive event was taking place. A team vs team event, with some of the greatest names among the streets of Kaon._

 _On one team were some of the greatest names in the pits: Megatronus, the most powerful gladiator, Soundwave, the only one to have come close to beating Megatronus, and Shockwave, the calculating gladiator who would spend most of his matches analyzing the opponent, before moving in with a quick and decisive finishing strike._

 _The opposing team was no pushover though. Dangar, the gladiator who only fought with his massive arms and fists, Nitro Zeus, the flyer who rained down fire, and their leader, Dreadbot, the massive gladiator who was armed to the teeth. They would no doubt give their opponents a run for their money._

 _It was the fight of the decade._

* * *

 _It was a difficult match; Soundwave knew this going in._

 _But he would not loose._

 _He was fighting alongside some of the greatest names in Kaon. He had come to respect both Megatronus and Shockwave, and to be honest, he rather admired them._

 _Especially Megatronus, who had vowed to challenge the current leadership, to demand equality for all Cybertronians. To challenge the hated castes._

 _Soundwave would not let them down._

* * *

 _The fight was reaching its climax. Shockwave had destroyed Dangar, managing to mostly avoid getting struck by his fists. Shockwave was now engaging Nitro Zeus, managing to pin the flyer to the wall to prevent him taking off. Soundwave and Megatronus were double-teaming the massive Dreadbot: the two were having trouble getting into close range due to the massive amounts of cannon fire from Dreadbot._

 _Soundwave and Megatronus were pinned behind a piece of debris that had been blasted off the arena wall. Dreadbot was launching blast after blast from a powerful shotgun-like cannon._

" _We are pinned," Soundwave informed Megatronus through a smooth voice, "We are unable to move any closer to land a hit."_

" _I KNOW!" growled Megatronus._

 _He paused, pondering their situation._

 _Soundwave was agile, but not well armored: any hit from those cannons would damage him. Megatronus was more heavily armored and wielded a shield that could withstand one more blast from Dreadbot's cannons._

 _Quickly, Megatronus formed a strategy._

" _I'll draw his fire, Soundwave when he is focusing on me move in swiftly and take off his head." Megatronus informed Soundwave. Soundwave contemplated for only a moment._

" _Yes Megatronus. But will you be able to keep ahead of his gunfire?"_

 _Megatronus did not respond, but instead nodded as he took up a position to run out from behind their cover, his shield at the ready to take its last hit._

 _Soundwave nodded back in response and positioned himself on the opposite side of the cover, clutching his blaster and sword tightly within his hands._

 _With a roar, Megatronus leapt from behind the crumbling debris, and charged, attracting Dreadbot's attention, who adjusted his aim to target Megatronus. The plan had worked: Dreadbot's attention was drawn away from the debris._

 _Soundwave's mouth formed into a smirk as he leapt out, and charged their enemy, intent on beheading him…_

… _only to suddenly be tackled from the side._

" _Dreadbot, look out! BEHIND YOU!"_

 _Nitro Zeus had managed to break out of Shockwaves hold, and had rocketed towards Soundwaves position, managing to tackle him to the ground._

 _Soundwave recovered quickly, and managed shoot Nitro Zeus in the arm and move out from under Nitro Zeus' body as Shockwave recovered and was upon Nitro Zeus once more. But Dreadbot had heard and had turned and noticed Soundwave._

 _Soundwave leapt to his feet, charging and slashing at Dreadbots arm as Dreadbot aimed one of his cannons at Soundwave and pulled the trigger._

" _Not this time!" Soundwave shouted, as his sword slashed through Dreadbots arm. The attack severed the arm…_

… _but the cannon was still loaded._

 _The sound of a blast impacting, coupled with a disfigured, liquified scream as the blast struck Soundwave's jaw, blasting it and a portion of his throat off and into oblivion, energon spilling everywhere._

 _Dreadbot didn't have time to react, as he was suddenly beheaded from behind by Megatrononus' cannon blade._

 _Soundwave screamed again, but his scream caused him a burning and vicious pain. Megatronus had leapt to Nitro Zeus, who had once again broken free from Shockwaves grasp. Grabbing Nitro Zeus, Megatronus roared as he ripped Nitro Zeus clean in half._

 _The pain became too much, and Soundwave finally passed out, the last thing he heard was the crowd's chanting._

" _MEGATRON! MEGATRON! MEGATRON! MEGATRON!"_

* * *

A stunned silence drifted through the air. No one moved, and no one spoke since Asuna made her declaration.

Soundwave was the quietest of all, just simply staring at Asuna.

The silence was eventually broken by footsteps. Agent Fowler had heard the commotion, and rushed in, followed closely by Arcee, both with blank looks on their faces.

At last, Agent Fowler spoke.

"I think it's time to rest a bit. I need to speak to you." He stated, turning to the kids.

Kazuto and Suguha nodded solemnly and proceeded to awkwardly get up to leave. Asuna remained standing though, still looking at Soundwave. Kazuto moved and took her hand looking at her, his face slightly wet from his earlier tears. Asuna turned to him, and Kazuto nodded solemnly. No words needed to be spoken between them.

"Wheeljack, I'll take over. I think you need some time as well," Arcee addressed to Wheeljack, who nodded and followed the Humans out of the hangar.

* * *

Out in the desert of Nevada, an old car with two occupants drove along the desolate road.

"I HAVE BEEN DRIVING FOR TWO HOURS, AND YOU DECIDE TO WAKE UP NOW!?" one of them shouted to the other, who had woken up, looking a bit hungover.

"Sorry…still a little woozy," the second responded.

"Oh yeah?" the first one shot back, "How do you think I feel? I barely drink that much myself. But I let you talk me into a pub crawl, a pub crawl I can't even REMEMBER now. Next thing I know, I wake up in the desert of Nevada, with you, my car, this worrying rash, and NO MONEY!"

"Jacob, for the record, I'm freaked out too. How in the hell do we wind up half…well actually across the country actually over the span of a single night?"

"Alex…YOU TELL ME!"

"Dude, my vision is still a bit blurry. If you want me to take over, I will. But I need to wait for this to wear off."

Jacob sighed.

"I'm sorry man. I'm just freaked out. We're in the middle of the desert with NO idea how we got here, we have no money, the phones are out of power, and we have really NO idea even which WAY to go."

"Hey, at least things can't get any worse." Alex piped up brightly.

A light on the dashboard suddenly blinked on.

"You FUCKING JINXED it! Now we're low on gas!"

* * *

The Humans, and even more so, Wheeljack and Ratchet, where surprised to see another mech standing outside solemnly. This mech was smooth, shiny red, and his optics were a crimson color, like Soundwaves.

"Knock Out…" Wheeljack addressed, "What are you doing here?"

"I just came through the SpaceBridge, to deliver energon. I didn't know…"

"That's Knock Out," Miko stated, as she arrived with Raf in tow. "He's the newest Autobot. I mention this specifically because he was formerly the Decepticon medic." She held out some earbud-like devices.

"Prototype translation algorithms. I considered what you told me, Sugu, and Raf and I made some adjustments."

It took a moment, but gradually Raf and Miko got the translators working after Kazuto, Suguha, and Asuna put them in their ears. Alas, any most of the joy that would have been felt was quashed by the solemn atmosphere. And Ratchets griping.

"You honestly don't expect me to believe all that do you? That Soundwave actually cared…" He trailed off.

"I find it hard to believe as well…," Knock Out added softly, "I was aware of Soundwave and Laserbeaks injuries, but not anything about a squad."

"Injuries?" Raf inquired.

"From what I was told, Soundwave was injured during a gladiator match in Kaon: he took a point-blank blast to his jaw and throat, blasted most off. He could still speak, but anything too louder would cause him pain. That's why he has that plate on his lower face: it substitutes for his throat and jaw, and enhances his voice, so he can speak without pain. Laserbeak had suffered from damage to his spark, hence why he acts more like a drone than a Mini-Con."

"Humph," Ratchet growled, "I just can't accept the notion that he even feels, that he even cares about anything AT ALL."

"I believe him."

Everyone was stunned to hear that coming from Wheeljack. Wheeljack shuttered his optics.

"When you work with a team, the trust and confidence you place in each other has to be great. Must be: a successful team is impossible without one. And when you lose a member of that team…to me it felt worse than having your spark ripped out. It happened a lot back with the Wreckers, I'll tell you that. But he was in command of a squad, not just a member of it. In a sense, the soldiers in a squad depend on their leader."

Wheeljack's optics opened. "He was not overtly cruel, now that I think about it. He would just follow his mission directives, and nothing more. Heck, he even had the chance to kill me without any effort, had the gun pointed at my head. But when the Doc brought Laserbeak back online, Soundwave immediately flew off to find his drone. He let me live."

"Now that I think about it," Raf spoke up, "He could have killed us Humans without any effort. But he only took that picture the first time, and just left with the Energon Harvester the second time. He could have flattened us, just like that, but…he only followed his mission."

"Puh-lease, he abducted ME!" Ratchet growled but was interrupted by Fowler.

"Yes, he did. But as much as I hate to admit it, he didn't harm anyone else. He only attacked me because I tried to stop him. Futility, I might add."

Ratchet looked like he was contemplating something and fighting with that thought. What ever it was, they were interrupted by Arcee striding over. A blank look adorned her faceplate.

"Soundwave…asked to see you Asuna…"

* * *

"This is a bad idea Jacob!"

"You have a better idea, now's the time!"

"But you are just following that fence!"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "If there is a fence in the middle of this desert, then it must lead somewhere. Maybe a military base or something."

"Yeah, exactly. What if they SHOOT on SIGHT!"

"With the fence, we at least have a chance. Do you want me to turn back, drive out into the open desert, and run out of fuel, and then DEFINITELY die!?"

Alex sighed.

"I guess you're right on that one…but you still owe me for breaking my car door!"

"Give it a rest already! Besides, Alex you got to move on from that hunk of junk…"

"DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT SADIE THAT WAY!"

* * *

There was a tense silence in the air as Miko lead Asuna up to Soundwave, while Ratchet, Wheeljack, and the other Humans stood at the doorway, with Bumblebee coming up to join them, and Knock Out remaining hidden outside.

"You…wanted to see me?" Asuna spoke out softly.

There was a long pause.

" **Yuuki Asuna…I am unsure what kind of leader I am now…"**

Another pause.

" **But I am very grateful that you have done so much for me. I am unsure as to what the future will hold, but I will do my best as your commanding officer."**

Asuna smiled from ear-to-ear.

"I therefore am grateful you will accept me, Commander Soundwave!"

There was a buzzing sound coming from the corner, where Laserbeak was restrained.

" **I believe Laserbeak is grateful too. That is rare, Yuuki Asuna, to get a reaction from him."**

"His…spark was damaged, right?"

" **During the mission I told you about. I believe he is glad to have a squad mate once again."**

Wheeljack, Arcee, and Bumblebee were smiling softly at this scene, Miko, Suguha and Raf had tears streaming down their faces, Fowler had an eyebrow raised, and Ratchet just remained silent.

" **Knock Out, I know you are there."**

Knock Out yelped, and slowly maneuvered his way into view, looking very nervous. But something that looked suspiciously like wiper fluid was on his optics.

"Hello sir…um…nice to see you again…"

" **You have defected to the Autobots."**

"Yeah…about that..."

" **I will not interfere with your decision."**

Knock Out's optics widened.

"Y…you mean…?"

Soundwave's optics shuttered.

" **The Decepticons are no more. It is agreeable that you have found a new purpose."**

Knock Out beamed. "Thank you…THANK YOU SOUNDWAVE…sir…whew…you won't kill me?"

" **Negative."**

Knock Out was smiling broadly, but soon his features sobered little.

"I appreciate it, but while I am now an Autobot…I wish it were that easy for everyone. The Decepticon cause were massive, and very deeply entrenched, and I suppose many will view returning to Cybertron as surrendering to the Autobots, being treated like war criminals. I think it will be difficult to establish a lasting peace anytime soon…"

* * *

"See, what did I tell you Alex. They wouldn't just let us die in the desert!"

"Yeah…the escort isn't exactly giving me a good vibe, you know.

Jacob and Alex's car was currently being escorted into the base facility by a big, sturdy black SUV. The guards had agreed to let them refuel and recharge, and hopefully get their situation sorted out.

What could go wrong?

* * *

In a thick, grey fog, a voice rang out.

"Nozemaze…it is time to reveal ourselves..."

"I assume you are referring to the beginning of the operation."

"Yes…"

"Very well. Your orders?"

"Send Laser-Waive to attack the Autobots Human allies, draw their numbers to Earth. Then you set a course for the Well of All-Sparks. It is time to alter the course of the next generation…."

* * *

AN: And there we have Chapter 7. I have introduced some new characters for comic relief, and the mysterious plans will begin to move in the next Chapter.

As I updated before, I have performed much-needed maintenance on the previous chapters, including the addition of scene break lines (FINALLY) just to let you all know.

I would like to give a shout out to Corvilius, who has been a great help and motivation with his reviews and through our discussions. I very much appreciate it, thank you!

I also have a request for anyone who is familiar with the Youtube User Diamondbolt. I have watched several of his videos, and I would like to know what he thinks of this story, as he is aware of Fanfiction. If someone could potentially contact him and let him know of this Fic, see if he will check it out, I would appreciate it.

Until next time!


	8. Chapter 8: A New Threat

Chapter 8: A New Threat

The Cybertronians were moving into the hangar to stay out of sight as a large black armored SUV escorted an old tan sedan onto the base. Both vehicles parked by the Human part of the base, and two young men stepped out of the sedan.

One of them had black hair, large glasses, and looked pudgy, though by no means fat.

The second had shoulder length blonde hair tied in a ponytail, was also donning glasses, and had a small stubble-beard.

Agent Fowler moved into the base toward these two.

"And just who, pray tell, are you?"

"Good day sir," The black-haired one started, "my name is Jacob Soong, this is my friend Alexander Parker, we were told we could come onto the base and sort out our situation…"

"I don't think you seem to realize, son, but you are in a _restricted area_!" Fowler interrupted, "you're not supposed to be here!"

"The guard at the gate was nice enough to let us in, given what…"

"I better have a talk with this guard then."

"Sir," The blonde one, Alex, stated. "We have no money, no power and very little gas. The gatekeeper was kind enough to let us in, and if we don't get this mess sorted out, we'll die in the desert. _Please_ , can we just have some gas, and time to charge our phones? Then we have a chance of sorting this out and we will be out of your way as soon as we can. Please sir?"

Fowler stared at the two, contemplating. Finally, he sighed.

"We'll get you sorted out, but after that you're gone, got it?"

"Yes, thanks."

"Thank you so much!" Jacob exhaled, "and we are sorry for the trouble."

* * *

"So, basically, you all can only leave the hangar in vehicle mode, as we have civilians on the premises." Fowler explained to the gathered Autobots.

"Civilians?" Miko asked incredulously.

"It's OBVIOUSLY not the first time!"

Miko pondered, then grinned sheepishly and fell silent. She, along with Jack, Raf and Mrs. Darby were technically civilians during their adventures with the Autobots, and they were very lucky that Agent Fowler had been so lenient.

"I'm going soft," Fowler mused.

"I think it was a nice thing to do," Raf interjected, "We couldn't have just let them die. I for one think you have changed for the better, Agent Fowler."

Fowler paused thoughtfully, and then smiled as he moved off back to the offices.

* * *

High above the surface of Cybertrton, unknown to the Autobots stationed there, a mysterious purple and black portal opened, and a mysterious, miniaturized purple space vehicle emerged, flying over the desolate landscape, toward a massive hole in the planet's surface.

The Well of AllSparks, the birthplace of Cybertronian life.

As the space cruiser approached, it slowed its speed, eventually stopping just above the Well.

"Hmm, this is interesting," a voice seemed to emanate from the cruiser, "I have not yet been detected."

Quickly, the mysterious space cruiser transformed, the vehicle turning into a jagged-looking purple robot with large solar panel-like wings, its optic visor igniting an eerie magenta.

"And it appears there are less stationed here than I expected. No matter. Lazer-Wave will be beginning momentarily." The robot spoke, its mouth shifting in an insectoid manner as its words played out…

* * *

"What the…?" Ratchet turned toward the monitor on their computer, catching the attention of the Humans and 'Bots present. Even the restrained Soundwave turned his helm to have a look.

"By the AllSpark…" Ratchet trailed off, "Something just appeared."

"Can you tell what it is, Doc?"

Ratchet input commands into computers keyboard. "I'm not too sure…It seems similar to…a GroundBridge portal… _and it's in the vicinity of this base!_ "

* * *

Alarms sounded throughout the base as military personnel were alerted to rush to combat-ready stations.

A voice rang out over the base's PA system.

"UNKNOWN VEHICLE APPROACHING! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

Jacob and Alex jumped, with Jacob adding in a startled yelp, as the alarms began blaring. It took only a few seconds before the sound of boots on the ground echoed throughout the base as all present personnel throughout said base were jarred into action.

* * *

"It's some kind of Cybertronian vehicle!" Ratchet reported, "At least I think it is. But these readings are strange…"

"That's all we needed to hear," Bumblebee replied, "Autobots, let's move!"

Bumblebee, Wheeljack and Arcee all proceeded to transform: Bumblebee into his black-and-yellow Urbana Chevrolet Camaro, Wheeljack into a white Lancia Stratos with red and green stripes, and Arcee into a blue Kawasaki Ninja 250R motorcycle, and proceeded to roar engines as they accelerated out of the hangar. Knock Out jumped, and looked like he was about to scurry off, until he remembered that Soundwave was watching him. Nervously, he transformed into a red Aston Martin One-77, and sped off after the other Autobots. Once Knock Out had left, Ratchet moved to close the hangar doors, and gestured to the Humans to remain out of sight. He then proceeded to take a position at the garage window of the hangar, observing what was happening outside.

* * *

Out on the base airfield, a massive purple-and-black portal opened on the ground. Out of the portal emerged what looked like a gigantic crane tower, which rumbled forward as the portal closed behind it. The crane, which was even larger than the Autobots, rumbled to a standstill as a large amount of military jeeps, Humvees, and even a few tanks moved into defensive positions facing the crane, with many more soldiers setting up turrets and aiming rifles as well.

Bumblebee, Wheeljack, and Arcee roared up and transformed into combat-ready stances. Knock Out arrived a few seconds later, but stayed back when he transformed, keeping his distance, and nervously moved behind the tanks.

Bumblebee raised his arms in front of set up perimeter.

"DON'T SHOOT, DON'T SHOOT!" He shouted, trying to keep the situation calm, "We don't know what is going on here!"

Charon, who was mounted on one of the jeeps with a megaphone looked at Bumblebee oddly.

"The war just ended," Bumblebee explained to the gathered soldiers, "And we don't know who or what this is."

"He's right," Arcee added, "Open hostility could be misinterpreted. We could wind up starting a firefight."

Charon stared at them, was thoughtful for a moment, and then pulled out the jeeps radio mic. Speaking quickly, there was a pause, before Charon acknowledged, turning to face Bumblebee.

"Very well," Charon conceded, before he shouted through the megaphone to the gathered army troops.

"DO NOT FIRE! DO NOT FIRE UNLESS I GIVE THE GO AHEAD! BUMBLEBEE WILL TRY TO DIFUSE THE SITUATION WITHOUT ENGAGING!"

As Charon gave these orders, Bumblebee cautiously approached the massive vehicle, with his arms still raised as a show of non-violence. The crane truck was massive, towering over each of the Autobots, standing eerily silent and still. It was mounted on oddly shaped caterpillar treads, decked in a black-and-brown color scheme, and was clearly not an Earth vehicle.

"Hello?"

No response.

"Please identify yourself."

Still no response.

"Please identify yourself, or we will have no choice but to treat you like a hostile."

The air was silent and still for a moment…until the silence was punctuated by the sound of metal, gears, and connectors rearranging as the crane truck transformed.

Once the transformation was complete, a massive, bulky robot stood, larger than any of the Autobots present. It had massive three-pronged claws for hands with its crane arm folded on its right arm. It stood, still silent and unmoving, with its faceplate blank, its only feature being what appeared to be a jagged mouth.

* * *

In a mysterious void, a voice rang out.

"Lazer-Wave and Noizemaze: begin."

* * *

Suddenly, jagged eyelids opened, with said eyelids sliding to the side, to reveal a single pink optic. Two antennae emerged from the head, and a ball of purple energy formed between the antennae. The robot moved its head slightly…

…before a beam of energy shot out of the ball, flying above the perimeter and slicing into some of the hangars. The pink optic flared, and a faceplate slid up over the mouth.

Charon gave the order.

"TARGET IS HOSTILE! ENGAGE!"

* * *

Above the Well of AllSparks, the mysterious robot's optics flashed.

"Noizemaze acknowledges. I am beginning my stage of the plan."

Holding his hands forward, Noizemaze began to chant in a mysterious language. Dark purple energy gathered around his arms, eventually forming into a sphere of sparking, crackling energy. Noizemaze slowly pulled his arms back from the sphere, and then proceeded to transform into a third form, a large alien satellite with jagged solar panels. Tentacles shot out of the satellite, with the claws on the ends surrounding the sphere of energy, as the chanting intensified…

* * *

Arcee somersaulted through the air, landing on the flaming remains of a tank. She then proceeded to leap off the tank, firing bolts from her arm-blasters at the massive robot. This got the robot's attention, so it pulled off its attack on Wheeljack, who had taken cover behind a fallen guard tower.

Bumblebee slid under the robot, with several jeeps joining him behind the robot, and proceeded to rain fire on the massive machine's back.

The robot swung around to face Bumblebee. It lifted its arm, and the crane arm morphed into a large blaster, which fired a bolt at Bumblebee, hitting him and causing him to scream in pain as he was knocked off his feet. Thrown backward, the barely conscious Bumblebee collided with one of jeeps, demolishing it, while the force from the bolt pushed the remaining jeeps into pieces.

"Hey Pinkeye!" Wheeljack shouted, as he swerved into the robot's line of sight in vehicle mode, "Bet you can't hit a target that moves!"

The robot's single optic narrowed, and its arm and cannon moved to fire at Wheeljack, who accelerated out of the way before the blast hit. The robot didn't let up, however, and continued firing at the moving Wheeljack, who roared around, driving and swerving to keep out of the cannons range.

Arcee took this opportunity to leap on to the robot's left arm, grabbing hold with her right arm, while continuing to fire with her left arm-cannon, targeting the beasts head as it swung it's arm vigorously, trying to shake Arcee off.

* * *

One of the hangars to have been hit was the Autobot hangar. Although it was hit at a point when the beam had been receding in power, it had still caused the hangar's roof to fall in. Shouts ran through the remainder of the Autobot's hangar, as personnel ran about grabbing weapons, putting out fires, and helping trapped people out of the wreckage.

"ASUNA!" shouted Kazuto, as Miko helped to his feet after being thrown across the hangar by the blast.

Suguha and Asuna emerged from behind a collapsed scaffolding, pulling Agent Fowler out of some debris. Ratchet, meanwhile, had grabbed Raf and taken shelter near the computer console.

"WHAT'S GOING ON!" Suguha shouted.

"RATCHET," Shouted Fowler, as he stumbled forward from Suguha's grasp, "WE NEED A GROUNDBRIDGE! GET THE CIVILIANS OUT OF HERE!"

"I NEED COORDINATES!"

"HERE!" Shouted Fowler as he regained his equilibrium and hurried over to the Autobot Medic.

* * *

The sphere of energy continued to grow as Noizemaze continued chanting, crackling with electricity.

"Now…"

Noizemaze quickly changed his chant to a different one and began maneuvering his tentacles into different positions around the sphere. The sphere crackled intensely, before a beam of energy shot out of it, traveling straight down into the Well. Suddenly the beam expanded, turning into a conical vortex which began to suck in…

* * *

The armored SUV and several open-topped jeeps swerved into the remains of the hangar, as soldiers and personnel jumped into them, preparing for an evacuation as Ratchet prepped the GroundBridge.

Kazuto, Suguha, Asuna, Raf, and Miko had piled on to one of jeeps, as the sound of the battle kept getting closer and closer.

"Quickly now!" Ratchet called as he opened a GroundBridge portal at the back wall of the hangar. Once the portal was opened, the vehicles began driving through it.

Suddenly, Wheeljack came flying into the hangar, crashing into the wall and knocking up a cloud of dust, with pieces of debris flying out in several directions. Once Ratchet had recovered from the sudden entrance, he charged across the hangar, and lifted/supported the barely conscious Wheeljack as he helped him through the portal. The SUV and remaining jeeps began to follow.

One of the soldiers in the kid's jeep quickly took a head count…

…only to come up one short.

* * *

Asuna coughed as she scrambled up after being thrown from the jeep, struggling as tried to see through the smoke.

Bumblebee and Arcee backed into the hangar's remnant, firing at the massive mech as it continued to advance.

"FALL BACK! FALL BACK! THE BASE IS LOST!"

"ASUNA!"

Arcee froze as she heard Kazuto call out, turning in time to see the chesnut-haired girl on the ground.

But the giant mech had seen as well. Quickly, he swung his arm into the two Autobots, before turning to Asuna, pausing for a moment.

* * *

The vortex that had formed from Noizemaze's sphere intensified, as infant Sparks were extracted from the well, slowly at first, then more and more rapidly, and sucked into the sphere. Noizemaze continued his chant, increasing in volume and intensity bolts of energy shot out of the sphere, into the well.

It didn't take long for the bolts to return, pulling with them the energy of the AllSpark…

* * *

Asuna was terrified. This massive one-eyed robot was staring right at her as she struggled backward.

Asuna had not yet finished rehabilitation. She struggled to move backward and hopefully get on her feet, but her muscles wouldn't respond the way she needed them to.

Asuna was terrified.

More terrified than during the first boss fight in SAO.

More terrified then when she helped face the Gleam-Eyes.

More terrified then when she nearly lost Kirito to Kuradeel.

More terrified then when she had watched Kirito have a duel to the death with Heathcliff.

More terrified then when she had been held captive by Sugou.

The robot suddenly spoke.

The robot aimed its cannon at her. Asuna could only stare. Stare up in horror as the machine charged its cannon, while she was unable to move. For a moment, it looked as if the robot was looking her straight in the eye.

"FILTHY PARASITE!"

"ASUNA!" Kazuto shouted.

She was about to die.

She was about to die, alone and helpless.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of bricks and debris from behind her, with the dust finally causing her to shield her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them, she froze, her jaw going slack.

The massive robot had been knocked back.

And Soundwave was in front of her, in a defensive stance.

* * *

The vortex subsided as the AllSpark was pulled into the sphere, finally ceasing as the sphere flashed and merged with Noizemaze's satellite form.

"Mission accomplished." Noizemaze confirmed.

He was suddenly startled by a barrage of large red cannon bolts. Noizemaze turned, realizing they were coming from the wreck of the Decepticon Warship _Nemesis_ , located on the outskirts of the well.

' _So the Autobots have finally detected me. No matter. I have what I came for.'_

Quickly, Noizemaize transformed into his space cruiser and blasted away from the cannon fire, opening a portal through which he disappeared through.

* * *

It was a tense and stunned silence for a few moments.

At last, the massive robot spoke.

"You…are Soundwave. You are the Decepticon spymaster, are you not?"

" **Identify yourself."** Soundwave responded, the sound wave on his cracked visor fizzling.

"Hmm…very well. My designation is Lazer-Wave."

" **State your intentions."**

"By telling you my designation, I have already told you too much."

Lazer-Wave paused.

"I have no quarrel with you, or the Decpticons for that matter. In fact, I do believe we have a common enemy. If you would be so kind as to stand aside, I would be willing to discuss this shortly. Once my mission is complete, that is."

" **Negative. I shall not stand aside."**

Asuna's eyes widened.

"Come now, you're exhausted and low on energon; you wouldn't stand a chance. It would be pointless for you to die for this…maggot."

" **I will not move."**

"WHY," Lazer-Wave asked, clearly losing patience, "Would you protect this… _thing?_ It is a by-product! An insect! A PARASITE! You are so much superior! Why lower yourself to protect a BUG?!"

There was a moment of silence between the two. At last, Soundwave responded.

" **Because Yuuki Asuna is under my command; she is a member of my squad. As commanding officer, it is my duty to protect those under my care. And I will defend her with my life."**

Asuna looked up at Soundwave in shock, unable to form words. Soundwave was willing to defend her? Put his life on the line for her?

"You realize," Lazer-Wave continued, "that if you stand in my way, you are my enemy. Therefore, you will be treated as such: I will destroy you."

" **All talk, no shock."** Soundwave responded.

Before anyone could react, Soundwave's two tentacles shot out and latched on to Lazer-Wave's chest, sending electric shocks into Lazer-Wave, who screamed in pain as the energy coarsed through his body.

" **Laserbeak: prepare for flight. Operation: Warfare!"** shouted Soundwave. From the rubble, Laserbeak burst out and took to the air, letting loose a barrage of red laser bolts, striking Lazer-Wave on the side of his head.

Lazer-Wave responded by grabbing the attached tentacles and using them to pull Soundwave towards him and over his shoulder. Soundwave detached his tentacles midair and transformed into his MQ-1 Predator stealth drone, leveling out and firing another barrage of lasers at Lazer-Wave, who roared and fired back with his cannon.

Asuna was shaken from her state when she felt someone help her up.

"Come on!" Jacob Soong urged, as he pulled her up and supported her with his shoulder, and hurried to the portal, bringing her with him. Alex Parker was waiting by the portal and took Asuna as Jacob shifted her onto Alex's shoulder, bringing her through the portal. Jacob stooped for a moment to catch his rapidly coming breath, only to be grabbed by Knock Out as he suddenly appeared and charged through the portal, screaming as he did so.

Soundwave was doing his best, but his low energon reserves were preventing him from flying too fast or too far; therefore, he wasn't fast enough to avoid Lazer-Wave grabbing one of his wings and slamming Soundwave into the ground.

Soundwave screamed, transforming back to robot mode as Lazer-Wave crushed Soundwave's wing-like arm, splattering energon, before Lazer-Wave pulled the arm clean out of its socket and tossed it away.

Soundwave, growling in vicious pain as he clutched the are his arm had once been, looked up at the face of his enemy.

"All for a parasite." snarled Lazer-Wave as he aimed his cannon at Soundwaves face, "What a waste."

All of a sudden, a recovered Arcee leapt onto Lazer-Wave's shoulders, and proceeded to let loose blast after blast into Lazer-Wave's head. Lazer-Wave screamed, and began to flail around, trying to pull Arcee off.

"Come, on!"

Soundwave was shaken from his stupor as he found himself being hoisted onto Bumblebees back, who began moving toward the portal. Soundwave understood and sent a recall transmission to Laserbeak as they passed through the portal.

Lazer-Wave had finally managed to grab Arcee.

"That was a MISTAKE!" Roared Lazer-Wave as he chucked Arcee into the air, and then aimed and fired his cannon at her.

Before the blast hit Arcee, however, Laserbeak swooped down, catching Arcee and then doing its best with his tentacles to prevent Arcee from falling as he sped toward the portal.

Lazer-Wave rounded on them and proceeded to fire a massive blast from his cannon.

The blast was getting closer…

Closer…

Arcee quickly turned and fired…toward the GroundBridge controls.

The GroundBridge controls exploded…

The portal began to collapse…

Almost there…

Almost there…

And just before the portal collapsed, Laserbeak and Arcee flew through. With the blast passing through where the portal had once been.

Lazer-Wave stared for a moment. Before he roared. As he quieted down, he thought to himself.

' _No matter. The mission is accomplished.'_

* * *

"Commander," Noizemaze's voice rang out into the void, "my mission is accomplished: I have the AllSpark."

"Excellent."

"As well as something else."

"Oh? And what might that be?"

A pause…

"The power of a Prime."

AN: And so, it begins…

I'm sorry for the wait, I really am. I am glad I have finally managed to get this out, and I hope it surpasses expectations! Indeed!

I did have a thought of starting a collection of oneshots as a bit of an extra. Tell me what you think?

The idea behind the oneshots is that they are a different take on both the scene in Chapter 1 the Sugou scene in Fairy Dance, or the scene where Heathcliff is revealed to be Kayaba at the end of the Aincrad arc. The first idea thought up for this story was one of those two scenes, with it being either. The idea is to show my several different takes on how Soundwave arrives, takes over the system from a madman, and then renders that madman as helpless as his victims. I always love scenes when the villain is acting so smug, only for the tables to suddenly turn, and they are suddenly powerless.

Let me know if you think I should go through with this, and please let me know what you think of this chapter!


	9. Chapter 9: Things Get Personal

Ok here is the next chapter.

Just to clarify, the character Lazer-Wave who appeared last chapter is NOT Shockwave. While Laserwave is Shockwaves Japanese name, I simply used it for a character whose body I based on Transformers: Animated Shockwave, who is a separate character entirely. Shout out to J the Abarekiller for pointing this out. Thank you.

Chapter 9: Things Get Personal

The void was large, darkened except for the sole light illuminating the massive robot, with its arms and legs chained to the ceiling and floor respectively. A mysterious black smoke was what filled the air of this void.

The robot grunted and slowly opened his optics, his vision attempting to adjust to the surroundings.

"Is this…the Well of AllSparks…?"

A voice seemed to rasp from nowhere and everywhere at once. "No."

"Where am I? Who are you?"

"I suppose it would not hurt to tell you. My name is Sideways."

"Where are you?"

"I have a proposition for you. Times are coming: dark times, chaotic times, times where things will change."

The massive robot struggled against the chains, trying to get free.

"Many will die, but some will live. I am offering you the chance to live through these times."

"And why would I wish to live through these times?"

"You are the last Prime; the last of the holders of the Matrix of Leadership, the collective wisdom of the Primes, the first 13 Cybertronians. Think of it. If you accept my offer, the Primes will live on, survive through these times into the new age. Optimus Prime, if you accept my offer, YOU will survive."

Optimus glared into the smoke.

"I do not know you, or what your agenda is, or what that agenda entails. But my intention was clear when I returned the AllSpark to Cybertron's core. The Age of Primes has ended. And I have no intention of following someone who will not show himself or explain anything."

A sound resonated through the smoke, sounding somewhat like a thoughtful 'hm.'

"Very well."

* * *

Ayano Keiko crouched behind a dumpster in a city alley, shaking as she held her breath, trying her best not to make a sound. At the entrance to the alley, a large shadow appeared.

' _What is this? Why is this happening?'_

Headlights suddenly illuminated the alley, and the sound of a revving engine growled through the air, as a large jeep slowly began creeping into the alley, as if stalking prey.

' _What is that thing? Why did it start following me? Why didn't it have a driver?'_

Suddenly, the jeep stopped moving forward, and quickly reversed out. Keiko cautiously peeked out from behind the dumpster.

And a blinding light flashed, enveloping her…

* * *

"My answer is once again no, especially given what you have told me."

"Optimus Prime…why do you continue refuse? I do not have to extend this offer, but I am willing to go out of my way for you."

"Why are you interested in allowing me to live?" Optimus deflected, "Your master always sought to exterminate life, why is there this offer to preserve mine?"

"Because, Optimus Prime, I am tired. My master is tired. We are ALL tired. We are tired of this pointless cycle, this destiny of destruction, the inevitable conflict that will eventually emerge again.

* * *

Nagata Shinichi sighed as he waited in the deserted subway station. It was late, and as a result, most of the station staff and passengers had gone home. Here he was, alone, waiting to catch a late-night train back home, and mulling over what had happened recently.

First, he gets involved in this mission to save someone, REALLY save someone, from which he takes a penalizing death. Then all of this is suddenly revealed to be some part of some big conspiracy that gets ALO taken down. And after that, this new thing called the World Seed is introduced, and ALO along with the VR industry in general, was revitalized. And over the past few months, he had seen very little of Suguha. When he did manage to talk to her, she was always avoiding telling him what she was doing, as if she was hiding something.

Yeah, it had been a hectic few months.

Shinichi closed his eyes.

He cared about Suguha, he really did. But she had seemed so distant lately, and it worried him.

' _I don't know if Kirigaya feels that way about me, but she's my friend…and she's definitely hiding something.'_

Inhaling deeply, Shinichi opened his eyes, looking up at the ceiling of the station.

' _Damn it! I want to be there for her, I want to be her friend. I wish I knew what was going on, why she's been so secretive. I wish I knew what was happening.'_ He thought to himself as he heard a train approaching.

' _I wish I could help her out.'_

And then, as the train passed, something from out of the darkness grabbed him…

* * *

"What do you mean?" Optimus asked.

"Prime, have you ever considered why Cybertronians come into conflict so often? Have you wondered why it is always so difficult to forge a lasting and stable peace?"

Optimus didn't respond, so the voice continued.

"The way we see it, Cybertronians are MEANT to fight each other. They exist BECAUSE there is conflict. Cybertronians were inevitably created for war, forged to fight if you will. They are destined to fight each other, to fight until they die, and the will cycle begin anew. It is what that saying you cling to truly means, that saying ''Till all are one.' It means that you will continue to fight, continue to kill, continue to die, until you _have all_ _become one with your AllSpark_!"

"That is not true!" Optimus responded.

"If it is not true, then why is your history littered with conflict? Why is there so much corruption, injustice, and death? Be it through an unjust government system or any number of Great Wars, there was always conflict in your history, since before your history even began. Think of Megatronus Prime and the Liege Maximo, evil that was among the very first of your kind. The Thirteen that were created to _help Primus defeat Unicron!"_

Optimus fought to find a response, but none came.

"My organization simply seeks to end this viscous cycle; to wipe the board clean and start anew. To end a doomed, flawed destiny; a cruel fate from which there is no escape."

There was a pause.

"Think of this: if you were to accept my offer, you would be able to survive, and carry on into a new, blank era! You could bring your views, on equality, on justice, on right and wrong. And you could build the ideal Cybertron you sought to create! You could build Cybertron the way YOU saw it! Start anew with a way that would not lead to an inevitable cycle of destruction and death! You can _break the cycle! You can create a perfect Cyberton!_ "

A long, pained pause passed, before Optimus finally responded.

"I will not join you."

"Hm, very well. I had hoped to earn your cooperation willingly."

Suddenly, the smoke in the room began to shift, and a gaseous liquid began to form on Optimus' limbs. Optimus began to struggle as hew felt pressure from where the liquid was covering, as it began to climb up his limbs.

"What…?"

"Like I said, I did not have to go out of my way to convince you to join us. We did not even expect to recover you from the Well of AllSparks…"

Optimus screamed as the pressure turned to pain, the gaseous liquid spreading over his torso, seeping into him.

"…but now that you are here, your use as an asset is too important to simply toss away."

Optimus' screams gradually lowered as the liquid consumed Optimus' head, his optics changing from blue to magenta…

* * *

…

…Rebooting…

"…"

Soundwave groaned as he slowly powered back up, his vision slowly returning. The first thing he noticed was that his left arm socket hurt like slag, the second was that his left arm was missing entirely. He was leaning against a wall in what appeared to be another kind of warehouse.

"You're up. Good."

Soundwave turned his head when heard the comment, noticing Asuna, who was wrapped in a blanket and holding a steaming mug, sitting on the stairs of a gantry, watching over him. Immediately, the previous events replayed in his mind.

" **Where are we?"** Soundwave finally asked.

"A storage facility," Asuna answered, "Agent Fowler told us it was someplace called California. Given your actions, injuries, as well as the limited number of equipment, they decided to let you sit here unrestrained. For now."

" **Laserbeak!"** Soundwave suddenly remembered, struggling to look around for the drone. To Soundwave's relief, Laserbeak sat over in a corner, currently powered down.

"Why?"

Soundwave turned to the voice of Asuna, who was staring up at him.

" **Elaborate."**

"Why did you protect me? You've saved me twice now…"

" **You are under my command. You are my responsibility, I will not let anything happen to you."**

Asuna smirked to herself. That response could be considered cold. But she felt there was more to it.

For one thing, this whole 'squad' thing wasn't even official.

For another thing, he had saved her even before she knew him.

And the fact that he said he would not let anything happen to her…

"You know, you are a bit like Kirito…"

"… **How so?"**

Asuna chuckled. "You're both so crap at expressing yourself."

"…"

"But…I think you do care."

"…"

Asuna looked up at his faceplate, straight into his optics.

"Thank you for saving my life."

* * *

Fowler sighed.

"Now, I know this is a lot to take in…"

"I don't think we agree on the scope of 'a lot.'" Parker mused.

Parker and Soong were seated in an office off the top gantry of the warehouse, with Agent Fowler sitting across a desk in front of them. Parker was staring at Fowler and Soong had his forehead in his hands, both having been told the circumstances behind the recent events.

Soong exhaled.

"We weren't even supposed to be here… We were only here by chance…"

"Well, I for one am glad that you were here."

Soong and Parker looked up at Agent Fowler in surprise.

"You both saved that girl, Asuna Yuuki. I am tremendously grateful." Fowler smiled.

The two stared.

Parker smiled slowly.

"Well damn, we're heroes." Soong put in.

* * *

"Where is this place?" Raf thought out loud as he and Miko looked around at what was stored in the warehouse.

It all looked Cybertronian, with energon cubes, some full and some empty, stacked against one wall, and what appeared to be lumps of tan clay in a corner. There were turned off Cybertronian computers, GroundBridge parts, and a lot of things that the Humans did not recognize, stacked throughout the warehouse.

"A storage facility," Ratchet replied, not looking up from the work he was performing on Wheeljack, "When we first arrived on Earth, our ship had crash-landed, and was rendered inoperable. While we set up a main base in the missile silo, excess parts and equipment were stored here. It is how Unit E was able to be set up so quickly after our first base was destroyed; we had back-up computers and GroundBridge parts that could be moved to Hangar E."

"Huh, makes sense," remarked Raf.

Miko interrupted, pointing to the clay-like things, "Hey Ratchet, what are those?"

Ratchet suddenly seemed to freeze up, and even Wheeljack looked solemn.

"Living metal, the material from which Cybertronians are formed. The bunch you see there was part of the medical supplies, intended for use if anyone needed to regenerate." Ratchet informed, "It is extremely hard to come by since Cybertron went dark, so we were intending to use it only in extreme circumstances."

"Couldn't you just have repaired Ultra Magnus' hand with that stuff?"

"Like I said, hard to come by, and used only in EXTREME circumstances."

"I think the doc means," Wheeljack interjected, "That it was to be rationed only if the injuries were way more brutal."

"Makes sense," Raf mused, "it must have been difficult, trying to decide the right time to use it."

Ratchet nodded solemnly.

Suddenly, what appeared to be the sound of jet engines outside alerted everyone that something was coming.

Arcee and Bumblebee, who were standing guard at the entrance of the warehouse, activated their cannons, with Arcee shouting a warning. Quickly, Wheeljack and Ratchet finished off what they were doing, and headed to the front of the warehouse. Fowler hurried from the office as well, mobilizing the Human military guard that had been stationed there.

Soong suddenly burst from the office, clearly panicked.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING? WHAT'S HAPPENING? TWICE IN THE SAME GODDAMN DAY!"

* * *

The Autobots positioned themselves at the entrance to the warehouse, activating their weapons just in case. From above, what appeared to be a type of purple bomber, an F-18 fighter jet, and a strange red jet that vaguely resembled a Sukhoi Su-35 began to descend. In addition, a large double-barreled tank rumbled up, flanked by a grey and olive jeep.

As they neared, several began to transform.

(I'm just going to name them here, without going through a lot of introduction dialogue. This won't become a habit.)

"Hardtop, transform!" the jeep bellowed, transforming into a bulky robot holding a machine gun.

"Warwing, transform!" the F-18 smoothly stated, transforming into a green and grey robot with a cone-shaped head, landing on his feet smoothly.

"Ulchtar, transform!" the red jet shouted, transforming into a red robot, with what appeared to be a racecar-shaped shield attached to his left arm, as he too landed on his feet smoothly.

"Bludgeon, TRANSFORM!" The tank roared, as it transformed into a large green and orange robot with what appeared to be a skull for a face.

"THEY'RE DECEPTICONS!" Wheeljack shouted, as he pulled his two swords from his back. Bumblebee and Arcee began charging their blasters, and Ratchet transformed his arms into scalpel-like blades. In response, Hardtop brought up his machine gun, two cannons moved from Ulchtar's back onto his shoulders, and a wrist mounted gun morphed onto Warwing's right arm. Before pandemonium could begin, however, Bludgeon held up his hand.

"STOP! DON'T FIRE!"

"You're Bludgeon!" Wheeljack called, "The leader of the Mayhem Attack Squad! The master of Metallikato!"

"I see my reputation precedes me." Bludgeon answered.

"Reputation? You mean the butcher of the city of Orga? Not exactly a reputation to be proud of!"

"Long time, eh 'Bee?" Hardtop taunted.

"Who're…Hardtop!" Bumblebee replied, suddenly recognizing an old rival.

"Silence!" Bludgeon bellowed.

"Bludgeon." Arce called, "I don't know what you're doing but the war is over. Whatever your plan is, we can resolve it peacefully."

"My thoughts exactly," The skull-faced robot responded. "I have merely come for someone. Surrender him, and we shall take our leave WIHTOUT violence."

"You're here for someone?" Arcee responded, immediately suspecting it was going to be Soundwave.

"Yes," Bludgeon responded, "I am here for the Human Kirigaya Kazuto."

* * *

 _What?_

"Wait…they want Kirito!?" Asuna shouted, as she jumped up and fled down the stairs of the gantry, Soundwave's masked face following her.

"Never heard of him!" Arcee responded.

"Don't try that with me," Bludgeon responded, "I know you have him here, and I know who he is. I know he was involved with this 'SAO incident,' and I know he was the one who deployed the World Seed."

Kazuto had been hiding in the back of the warehouse with Suguha, Miko and Raf, with several Human soldiers taking up positions to protect them.

Kazuto's eyes widened in shock when he heard.

' _How could he know that?"_

* * *

"I know a lot of things," Bludgeon continued, "Lugnut, deploy them."

The purple bomber, which had held position above the confrontation, began to descend, with the back ramp opening. 4 scared and helpless Humans were almost immediately launched onto the ground from the bomber, as the bomber proceeded to transform into a large bulky robot with claws for hands, and a head with one large optic and four smaller optics.

"Here," Bludgeon continued, as he raised his sword in front of the Humans, "I have some Humans. Tsuboi Ryoutarou, Shinozaki Rika, Ayano Keiko, and Nagata Shinichi. Also known as Klein, Lisbeth, Silica, and Recon."

* * *

' _WHAT!'_ was all that went through Kazuto's mind.

Suguhas eyes widened. They had Shinichi too?

Kazuto scrambled from his hiding place, shoving past the soldiers before they had the chance to grab him.

* * *

"Kirigaya Kazuto," Bludgeon called, "I have an ultimatum. If you do not come out and surrender yourself to us, I WILL execute these Humans.

Keiko and Rika screamed, clutching each other. Shinichi was too afraid to move a muscle, while Klein stood in front of the three, glaring up at their captors.

"No!" Wheeljack shouted, and he charged toward the Decepticons.

He was stopped by a bolt that appeared out of seemingly nowhere hitting the ground in front of him.

Hardtop laughed. "Not a good move. Nice shot, Sharpshot."

"I aim to please." A new voice smugly stated.

Two more Decepticons emerged from the outsides of the warehouse. One of them, a grey and orange robot with a sniper rifle, and a blue robot that had markings of what appeared to be a red face on his chest.

"You're surrounded. 'Bludgeon stated, "You're outnumbered and outgunned. If a battle ensues, we will kill everyone, Humans included." A pause. "Kirigaya Kazuto, this is my only offer. Come quietly, and I shall leave in peace. If you do not, we will simply take you by force."

* * *

Kazuto, who was hiding behind some energon crates near the entrance to the warehouse, fell to the floor as he let the information sink in. He had to make a choice.

* * *

Hardtop laughed out loud, while Lugnut growled, and Ulchtar stood silently. Warwings mouth twitched, and Sharpshot grinned as he aimed his sniper rifle at Wheeljack, and the blue robot stepped forward.

"C'mon, I don't want to get innocent people involved…"

That voice…

It couldn't be…

"…but I have my orders. If you don't come quietly, you gotta' get ready to crumble before…"

" **RUMBLE!"**

Everyone was caught off guard as Soundwave, gasping and desperate, shoved his way passed the defending Autobots out of the warehouse until he was staring the blue robot, who had also frozen.

"Commander S-s-Soundwave?"

There was a sound, and a device detached from Rumble's shoulder, transforming into a Human-sized black jaguar, who stared up at Soundwave, not moving an inch.

Soundwave finally managed to respond.

" **Ravage…Rumble…"**

* * *

A/N: Well now, what do we have here?

I originally intended to write abduction scenes for Rika/Lisbeth AND Ryoutaro/Klein, but I decided to cut them for time. ANd I was having a hard time writing them.

As always, please read and let me know what you think!

If you have any questions, let me know in the reviews, and I'll try to respond to them if possible.


	10. Chapter 10: Status: Reconfigured

Chapter 10: Status: Reconfigured

Warwing should resemble the Curse Armada Thrust toy, itself based on Transformers: Armada Thrust. In addition, Ulchtar is based on Armada's wonderful incarnation of Starscream, complete with Michael Dobson voice, as I am a fan of his original character. This version is based on the 2014 Armada Starscream toy.

Yeah, I miss Armada…

There is also something important that I wanted to point out. In this story, I am trying not to use mass-shifting a.k.a. size changing. This presents a problem as some characters alt modes are significantly bigger than others, specifically the jets. To compensate, I imagine that a Transformer stays in scale with its regular body mass, and instead transforms into an alt mode that is scaled to their size. This seems to have been the case for Starscream in _Prime_ , as his jet mode looks to be the same size as a car, and is too small to hold a Human pilot. So therefore, the regular sized characters who turn into, for example, jets, will transform into a jet the size of a car, to keep them in scale with the characters.

Whew. Now that that's over…

Chapter 10: Status: Reconfigured

It was almost as if time itself had stopped.

At last, Soundwave found his voice.

" **I thought you were dead!"**

"We thought YOU were dead!"

" **Rumble…the others? Frenzy…Buzzsaw…?"**

Rumble shuttered his optics painfully. "They're dead, sir. I saw it myself…"

Soundwave shuttered his optics solemnly.

" **HOW did you survive?!"**

"Well, I must say," interrupted Sharpshot, reminding everyone that they were not the only one's present, "This is quite the touching little reunion, but if you could SPEED IT UP please, I really want to get this over with and GO HOME ALREADY!"

"Rumble!" Bludgeon warned, "Remember where your true loyalties lie! DO NOT let this little…reunion interfere with our mission."

"What…?"

"In case you were not aware, Soundwave has sided with our enemies." Bludgeon stated, "If he chooses to interfere, then he will be my enemy as well."

Rumble's head swiveled around to look at Soundwave. "Is it true? Have you joined the Autobots?

There was a tense few seconds.

" **Negative. I have not joined the Autobots. But the war is over. Lord Megatron has disbanded the Decepticons."**

"YOU LIE!" shouted an enraged Lugnut, "Our grand and glorious leader would never surrender to the accursed Autobots! He would not even CONSIDER it!"

"It's true," a voice piped up from the entrance to the warehouse. Knock Out slowly emerged onto the scene, clearly wanting to duck and find cover, but also clearly trying to be brave.

"I heard it myself, saw it myself. Megatron HAS disbanded the Decepticons, and gone into exile."

"LIES! LIES!" Lugnut retorted.

"It matters not how our master has BETRAYED US!" Bludgeon responded, his voice rising with each word. "I have been given an order, and therefore I WILL accomplish it!"

"An order?" Arcee called from behind her cover, "What do you mean? Who sent you?"

"That is not important. What is important is my mission." Bludgeon responded, "Getting back to the original subject, I have these Humans," he indicated toward Ryou, Rika, Keiko and Shinichi, "If you do not surrender yourself, Kirigaya Kazuto, then I WILL execute these Humans one by one until you are within my possession."

"Don't even think about it!" Bumblebee retorted, aiming his forearm cannons at Bludgeon.

Hardtop responded by aiming his machine gun at Bumblebee's location. "Do it. PLEASE do it!"

"I grow tired of waiting." Bludgeon stated simply, "This is your last chance."

The cannon on Bludgeon's left arm suddenly glowed, indicating it was armed.

"WAIT! WAIT, STOP! Kazuto called, emerging from behind the energon crates.

"KAZUTO! DON'T!" Suguha shouted.

Kazuto ignored that. "If I go with you, will you let the others go?"

"You have my word." Bludgeon responded.

Kazuto closed his eyes. "Very well."

"NO!"

A barrage of laser blasts suddenly rained out from Arcee's position, striking Bludgeon in his right side, managing to scrape Hardtop as well. Bludgeon snarled, and turned his attention toward the offending Arcee, his cannon moving from aiming at the hostages to aiming at Arcee, with the blast from the cannon firing.

Arcee turned, realizing what happening, optics wide in horror as Bludgeon fired at her.

"ARCEE!" Bumblebee shouted.

" **AHHHHHH!"** shouted a voice as the blast impacted someone. But it wasn't Arcee.

Soundwave had jumped in front of Arcee, the blast striking him instead. The blast struck Soundwave, blasting him into the air as his legs were blown off, Soundwave screaming as his now-legless body was thrown into the roof of the warehouse, crumbling into a heap as he fell to the floor surrounded in debris.

Bludgeon smirked "How tra…"

"HEY!" Rumble shouted suddenly, "NO ONE DOES THAT TO SOUNDWAVE!"

Without warning, Rumble's arms transformed into pile drivers, and he swung around, slamming them into Bludgeon, knocking the skull-faced robot to the ground.

"RUMBLE!? RUMBLE WHAT THE SLAG!?" Hardtop shouted, as he transformed his machine gun into an axe, and swung it at Rumble in response, with Rumble bringing his piledrivers to block said axe.

Ravage looked between Soundwave, Rumble, and his former teammates, before growling and leaping onto Lugnut's oddly-shaped head, scratching at his large optic. Lugnut screamed as he tried in vain to grab the small robot in his massive claws, and Ravage vigorously continued to attack Lugnut's optic.

It was at this point, all hell broke loose. Arcee took the opportunity to leap from her cover on to the roof of the warehouse, quickly kicking Sharpshot's sniper rifle out of his gasp before he could fire a shot. Wheeljack proceeded draw his two swords from his back and charge at Ulchtar, who responded by unfolding two swords from underneath the wings on his sides and bringing them into a blade lock with Wheeljack's.

"NOW! GO, GO, GO!" called out Bumblebee as he leapt out from behind his cover, firing his cannons at Bludgeon as he charged at him. The Human troops quickly acknowledged and began firing machine gun fire, rockets and large turret fire toward Lugnut, who was still struggling with Ravage and had fallen to the ground.

Arcee had locked into hand-to-hand combat with Sharpshot, and Bumblebee was circling Bludgeon, firing shot after shot at the skull-faced Decepticon.

Wheeljack and Ulchtar had separated from their blade lock, and were now circling each other, blades slashing and clashing with the opposing blades.

"That all you got?" smirked Wheeljack beneath his mask.

"Hardly!" growled Ulchtar. Suddenly, two laser guns formed on Ulchtar's shoulders. Wheeljack's optics widened as Ulchtar fired his guns into Wheeljack, knocking him backward and to the ground. Ulchtar took this opportunity to turn his guns on Bumblebee, who was able to dodge, but the brief break in firing on Bludgeon gave Bludgeon the chance to draw a large sword and charge at Bumblebee, who barely dodged. Bumblebee growled.

* * *

Kazuto had hidden behind the energon crates again.

This was NOTHING like SAO.

It was big.

It was destructive.

And it was REAL!

"I never thought anything like this would happen to me…," Kazuto muttered to himself, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. "This is…unbelievable."

Suddenly, the air around him began to distort.

"What the…?"

Before he knew it, Warwing had decloaked above Kazuto, staring down at him, looking him right in the eye.

There was a brief, tense moment of silence.

Warwing suddenly reached down, his large hand grabbing Kazuto.

* * *

Wheeljack had recovered, and had talked Ulchtar to the ground, while Bumblebee was doing his best to avoid Bludgeons sword. Rumble and Hardtop were still going at it.

"Bludgeon!"

"Grr…let me go!"

Both Bludgeon and Bumblebee paused in their fighting to notice that Warwing stood with Kazuto in his hand.

"We have what we came here for."

"NO!" shouted Bumblebee.

"Well done Warwing. All units, fall back!" Bludgeon called, and he proceeded to sheath his sword, and transform into his tank form, which proceeded to rumble away from the battle. Seeing this, Bludgeons allies broke off and proceeded to retreat.

Warwing and Ulchtar ignited thrusters on their feet, and took off of ground, with Warwing unable to transform as he was still holding Kazuto. Lugnut leapt into the air and, with a large blast of wind, transformed into his bomber form, while Hardtop leapt out of the way of Rumbles piledriver, and transformed into his jeep form.

"Well," Sharpshot mused to himself as he noticed his retreating comrades, "It looks like my job here is done." He turned to Arcee. "It's been fun, but alas, I'm afraid we must part! See ya!"

"Oh no you don't!" Arcee shouted as she leapt at Sharpshot, who had also transformed into a jet. Before Sharpshot realized it, Arcee had leapt onto the jet, holding on tightly.

"What the…GET OFF!"

Arcee growled as Sharpshot flew, swerving and shaking from side to side, trying to throw her off, Arcee holding onto him for dear life.

* * *

"THEY'VE GOT KAZUTO!" Bumblebee shouted, as he transformed and sped after the retreating figures, Wheeljack following close behind. Human troops rushed to the aid of the former hostages as Rumble and Ravage rushed to Soundwave's side.

Soundwave, now almost limbless, had energon leaking from the stubs that used to be his legs, his visor shattered, his face visible. He was taking long raspy intakes of air, clearly barely holding on.

"Boss! BOSS!"

Soundwave looked up blearily.

* * *

Arcee managed to leap off of Sharpshot and onto Lugnut, with her preparing to make another jump.

"It's all or nothing."

Before Lugnut had even reacted to her presence, Arcee had leapt off of him, grabbing onto the back of Warwing, who grunted, and tried to shake her off. Working fast, but still holding on tight, Arcee managed to aim downward, and fired off several shots from one of her arm cannons. One of the shots hit the thrusters on one of Warwing's feet, blowing it out, and causing Warwing to plummet toward the ground, letting go of Kazuto as Warwing flailed about in his descent.

Kazuto shut his eyes as he was launched into the air. Arcee noticed this and jumped.

"Kazuto!" shouted Arcee as she transformed into her motorcycle mode mid-air, "Get on!"

Although his senses were barely working at this point, Kazuto managed grab hold of Arcee's steering mechanism, and pulled himself as close to her as he could.

He screamed.

Bumblebee had transformed, leaping into the air, catching the falling motorcycle in both arms, Kazuto hanging on for his life. The impact sent Bumblebee backward, but he managed to stop Arcee's descent while barely managing to keep Kazuto safe.

* * *

"…Ravage and I took shelter in a hidden bunker room within the Autobot base…" Rumble stated sadly, "Buzzsaw and Frenzy didn't make it…I found their bodies once I emerged…I thought you were gone too."

Soundwave was propped up against the remains of the facility wall, with Knock Out doing his best to stabilize his condition. Rumble was kneeled at Soundwave's side, Ravage nuzzling Soundwave's remaining hand. Ratchet and Asuna stood off to the side watching.

At last, Soundwave spoke.

" **I…I…I thought I lost you all…that you died because of me…"**

"Boss…" Rumble cut him off, "WE were the ones to insist on the unauthorized attack! Don't blame yourself!"

" **It is too late for that…"**

"Boss…Soundwave…?" Rumble asked, but was interrupted by a loud rasp from Soundwave.

"His spark's fading!" shouted Knock Out shouted, "He's leaking too much energon!"

Ratchet looked down, growled, and then knelt down to help Knock Out. Asuna approached Soundwave, nearly jumping when another army jeep drove past.

"Rumble…Soundwave..." Asuna started, doing her best to hold herself together, "The Autobots and the military are outnumbered. Those robots have Kirito."

"I'm not leaving Soundwave." Rumble stated plainly.

"People are getting hurt…you can help them!" Asuna pleaded.

" **It is too late,"** Soundwave slowly stated, **"I am dying…and right when I was reunited with my lost troops…heh…I suppose that is what I deserve…I have done so much evil…this is what I deserve…"**

"Boss…" Rumble whispered.

* * *

Asuna closed her eyes tightly.

Everything was so wrong. First, she was trapped in SAO by a madman. Next, she discovers that the commander, the leader she looked up to, was that madman. Then she was held prisoner and violated by Sugou. She is then rescued by an alien robot who was essentially a war criminal, and learned about a war that secretly raged on Earth.

And now she was in a struggle for her life. Kirito, the man she took some much strength from, was captured and in danger, the world was crumbling around her…and there was nothing she could do about it.

She was helpless.

Like when she was trapped in the virtual prison of Aincrad.

Like when she was held captive by Sugou.

Like when she was almost…

Asuna shook her head. She had to move on right there.

Wait…

Move on…

* * *

"Soundwave!" Asuna shouted suddenly, "It's happening again!"

" **Hrr…"**

"We are under attack! People are in danger! If you don't do something, people will die! LIKE THE REST OF YOUR SQUAD!"

Soundwave stared at Asuna, but Asuna kept going, looking him straight in the optic.

"I don't care WHAT people say about you, I know you are trying to redeem yourself for all of the things you have done! Well, if you just sit back and DIE, you won't truly be able to redeem yourself! I KNOW you can do something to help! Don't let these people die! DON'T JUST SIT BY AND DO NOTHING!"

For a moment, everything was silent, Asuna and Soundwave staring each other in the eye.

" **Happen…again…"**

Soundwave took a big intake.

" **Sit by…do nothing…"**

He shuttered his optics.

" **Redeem..."**

Suddenly, Soundwaves optics lit up as a blazing crimson, startling all but Asuna. Knock Out, Ratchet and Ravage all jumped back as Soundwave started to move, propping himself up with his remaining arm.

" **Operation: Upgrade!"**

Soundwaves tentacles emerged, and shot toward the clay-like living metal, pulling two units of it toward himself, placing it over his damaged frame, with the metal starting to mutate. One tentacle shot back for another unit of metal, while the other attached to Laserbeak, sending shocks to the drone, reactivating it. The third metal joined the mass of forming metal, with a chunk of it traveling down the tentacle and enveloping Laserbeak.

The lump of metal slowly began to take form, transforming into what appeared to be a humanoid form. Suddenly, two blue beams shot out of the mass' head, scanning the Army's armed SUV, which was parked nearby. Two beams shot out of Laserbeak's mass, aiming into a tree, and scanning a condor. There was a loud series of noises as both masses started to take form again…

* * *

Bumblebee was locked in an armlock with Bludgeon, while Wheeljack and Arcee were pinned behind some debris, firing back at the enemy flyers with Kazuto curled up between them.

"Is THIS all that can be mustered by Optimus Prime's team?" Bludgeon laughed loudly, "It seems without your leader, YOU ARE NOTHING!"

Bludgeon suddenly pushed fiercely, knocking Bumblebee to the ground, as Bumblebee struggled to get up, he noticed that Bludgeon had drawn his sword. He brought it up in a stabbing motion, ready to drive it in to Bumblebee…

A rain of missiles suddenly shot forward, exploding into Bludgeon and knocking him off his feet.

A loud rumbling was heard as a large object powered through landscape and debris.

The object was a dark blue armored SUV, which transformed in motion.

The SUV took shape, forming a large armored robot body colored dark blue, with clawed hands attached to its large arms, and what appeared to be a cannon on the robot's left shoulder. As the Robot finally formed Rumble and Ravage approached on both sides.

The robot's new visor flashed red.

" **Operation: Counterattack!"** the upgraded Soundwave bellowed.


End file.
